


Barkwisyall Nescell Gungnir Tron

by CopperPolyphony



Category: Senki Zesshou Symphogear
Genre: Dogs, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Fluff, Help I spilled angst on my fluffy dog fic!!!, Hibiki is a very good dog
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-18
Updated: 2021-01-08
Packaged: 2021-03-08 03:02:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 21,276
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26528689
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CopperPolyphony/pseuds/CopperPolyphony
Summary: Hibiki is transformed into a dog and is taken home by Miku, who doesn't realize it's her. While trying to get her girlfriend to recognize her, Hibiki finds that Miku worries about her a lot more than she thought.
Relationships: Kohinata Miku/Tachibana Hibiki
Comments: 33
Kudos: 78





	1. Chapter 1

Hibiki edged closer to Miku as a cold gust of wind blew by. They were waiting in line for a takoyaki cart parked in the corner of a small park, the streetlights bathing them in a warm yellow glow.

She looked up and followed the path of a solitary snowflake as it floated down in front of a row of brightly lit shops down the street. A smile found its way onto her face as she glanced back at her partner.

“Hey, Miku?”

“What is it?” Miku gave her mitten a small squeeze.

“I’m gonna go look at some of the shops over there.”

“Okay. Don’t go too far. I’ll make sure to get you an extra one.”

“Mhm! I love you!” Hibiki leaned in and kissed Miku on the cheek. She was surprisingly warm for this time of year and Hibiki lingered to rub her cheek against hers.

“Hibiki!” Miku’s cheeks flushed a rosy red. “I thought you were going!”

“Ehehe... mmmmm... but my sunshine is so warm!” Hibiki reluctantly backed away and held Miku’s mitten for as long as she could. “I’ll miss you!”

Miku chuckled. “I’ll miss you too, Hibiki.”

Hibiki felt a little guilty as she jogged away from her girlfriend. They didn’t often get much time together between her job stopping Noise attacks, schoolwork, occasionally saving the world, and catching up on all the schoolwork she missed stopping Noise attacks and saving the world. Hibiki often stumbled home in the late hours of the night to find Miku already asleep and a bowl of rice waiting for her on the counter.

Her guilt faded as she was drawn over to a brightly lit pet store and stared down at a tiny puppy with starry eyes. 

“I wonder if Miku would let me get a puppy...” she mused. “Ah! No! I came over to find a present for Miku, not look at puppies!” Hibiki gave the puppy one last look of longing before walking to the next shop.

“Hmm... ramen shop, convenience store, scented bath soaps?” Hibiki groaned. “I just want something special for Miku!” She jogged over and pressed her face against the foggy glass of a jewelry store.

Amongst the assortment of bracelets and necklaces, she spotted a small silver pendant shaped like a sunflower. A bright smile spread across her face. 

“I bet Miku would love that one!”

A few minutes later, Hibiki walked out of the shop to find a light flurry of snow floating to the ground. She tucked her newly bought pendant into her pocket and stuck her tongue out to catch a falling snowflake. She was about to start walking back to Miku when she saw a flash of movement in the alley across the street.

“Hello? Is someone there?” Hibiki walked over and took a few steps into the alley. “Do you need any help?”

She continued down the dirty alley, checking behind all the crates and trash cans as she went. A balled-up piece of paper blew by into a small side alley and Hibiki caught a flash of white cloth moving behind a corner.

“Hey, wait!”

She turned the corner to come face to face with a tall figure in a billowing white cloak that covered their entire body.

Hibiki yelped and jumped back. When the cloaked figure didn’t react, she leaned in for a better look at them. The hood was pulled down low over their face so she couldn’t see their eyes, but still... there was something familiar about that chin.

“Kirika? Shirabe?” Hibiki inquired cautiously. “Is this one of your pranks?”

The corners of the figure’s lips curled up in a smile and they lifted their arm to touch Hibiki on her chest above where her Gungnir pendant dangled, just grazing the scar tissue over her heart.

“Huh?”

A sudden spell of dizziness came over her and the world started to spin. The last thing she saw before she fell to the ground was the figure turning and seemingly disappearing into thin air.

When Hibiki came to, she was sitting in a pile of her own clothes.

_Eh?! What happened? Why am I so short? Was there an Noise attack?!_

Hibiki untangled herself and stepped over to a nearby puddle. She looked down at her reflection to find a short dog with fluffy golden-brown fur peering back at her.

 _AAH! Am I a dog?! Did I get turned into a dog?! AAHH! How am I gonna marry Miku if I’m a dog?!_ Hibiki whined and stamped her paws in frustration. _What am I gonna do?!_

_I-I need to find Miku! She’ll be able to help me!_

Hibiki scampered out of the alley, leaving a pile of her possessions behind.

  


* * *

  


_I wonder what’s taking Hibiki so long..._

“Miss? Here’s your order, miss.”

“Oh. Thank you.” Miku took the two cardboard cartons from the vendor and turned to scan the crowd for Hibiki. 

Instead, she found a small dog with fluffy golden-brown fur standing behind her. It barked twice at her.

“Hey there. Are you lost?” 

The dog barked frantically in response. Miku knelt in front of the dog to check for a collar. Not finding one, she patted the dog on the head.

“You don’t look like a stray... Did you get separated from your owners?”

The dog whined and stamped its paws.

“Don’t worry, I’ll help you find them. Hehe, my girlfriend would love to help you... Where is she anyways?” Miku glanced around, half-expecting Hibiki to pop out and give her a surprise hug. “Guess I’ll ask around for your owners myself.”

  


* * *

  


_Miku! Please Miku, I’m right here!_ Hibiki whined as she watched her girlfriend walk over to a group of old ladies and start talking to them. _Whaa! I’m cursed!_

She helplessly trailed after her girlfriend as she moved from group to group, occasionally pointing back at her.

Finally Miku came back to her. “Hey there... No one recognized you.” She knelt down in front of Hibiki and ruffled the fur on her head. “Do you want to come home with me tonight?”

Hibiki stumbled towards her and rested her head on her shoulder. A few tears fell from her canine eyes.

_Miku... Why don’t you recognize me? I miss talking to you already!_

“Hehe. Seems like that’s a yes. I just need to find my girlfriend.” Miku started walking towards the nearest bench and looked back to see if she was following. 

Miku sat down on the bench and picked at her cold takoyaki as she dialed Hibiki.

Hibiki jumped up next to her and placed her head on her lap. Miku absentmindedly twirled her fur with one hand while the phone rang.

 _My phone!_ Hibiki sat up suddenly. _Maybe if I show her my phone she’ll recognize me!_

Hibiki jumped down and ran in the direction of the alley. She stopped and barked once at Miku.

“Hmm?” Miku looked over at her with a confused expression, still sitting on the bench. “Did you see your owners?”

_No! I need you to follow me—_

For an instant, Hibiki caught sight of the cloaked figure standing on the path behind her girlfriend. She growled and darted forward towards it. 

Unfortunately, Hibiki wasn’t used to running with four legs, and tripped on her own paws. She rolled to a stop at Miku’s feet and quickly picked herself up, frantically looking around for the figure she had just seen.

“Are you feeling okay?” Miku said quietly. Her phone was still ringing, waiting for Hibiki to pick up.

The figure seemed to be gone, and no one else was around, so Hibiki allowed herself to relax and turned to face her girlfriend. Miku’s phone screen turned off and she sighed.

“Hibiki must have gotten called on a mission.” Miku looked back at the square. Most of the customers had left and a few of the food cart workers were still closing up. “It’s getting late. Let’s go home, okay?”

Miku scooped Hibiki up in her arms and started walking home.


	2. Chapter 2

Hibiki rushed into their dorm as soon as Miku opened the door. 

_What can I do to get Miku to recognize me?!_

Hibiki looked around the room, her gaze eventually landing on the open bottom drawer of their dresser.

_Ah! Maybe if I put on one of my shirts she’ll recognize me!_

Hibiki awkwardly jumped into the drawer and tried to wiggle into one of her shirts.

“Hey! Those are Hibiki’s!” Miku said sternly.

Hibiki pulled her head out of the shirt she was trying to put on and looked at Miku expectantly.

Miku paused and thought for a second. “But I guess you can use them as a bed if you want.”

_Wha— No, Miku! That’s not what I was trying to do! But... ehehe, my shirts are pretty comfy..._ Hibiki nestled down into the drawer and watched as Miku went about her nightly routine.

When Miku walked into the bathroom, Hibiki followed her. She tried to jump up and grab her toothbrush, only to be shooed away.

Hibiki walked out into the main room and waited for her girlfriend to come out, a pit forming in her stomach where she was starting to realize Miku might not recognize her at all.

_N-No! It’s fine! Everything’s gonna be okay!_ Hibiki repeated her trademark phrase to herself. _Even if Miku doesn’t recognize me, someone will! Right?_

Miku finally exited the bathroom and walked into the kitchenette. Hibiki stared up at her with golden eyes as she prepared a small bowl of rice that she set on the kotatsu. Miku sighed and sat down on the other side, resting her head on a hand as she stared at the doorway. 

_Huh? Miku? Aren’t you going to go to sleep?_ Hibiki cocked her head at her.

“Just—“ she stifled a yawn. “Just a few more minutes. Hibiki will be back any moment.”

_Miku! You need to sleep!_

Hibiki jumped up and grabbed the fabric at the back of her shirt and gently tugged her towards the bed.

“Okay! Okay! I’ll go to bed!” Miku ruffled the fur on her head and started climbing the ladder to their bunkbed. Hibiki raised her front paws to the first rung of the ladder and whimpered when she couldn’t get her hind paws up.

_Miku!! Wait! I can’t climb this!_

“Oh?” Miku turned and looked down at her with a soft smile. “Did you wanna come up too?” 

Hibiki barked once and nodded her head.

Miku laughed quietly as she climbed back down and lifted her up onto the the bed. Hibiki waited for her to climb back up and lay down before she curled up in her usual spot beside her.

“I guess there won’t be much room for Hibiki when she comes back.” She giggled. “You’re in her spot.”

_Miku..._

Miku gazed into her eyes and smiled softly. “You know, I’m kinda glad you’re here,” she said, closing her eyes and pulling Hibiki closer. “It’s hard for me to fall asleep when Hibiki isn’t here. I always end up staying up until I hear her come home.”

_Eh?! I thought you were always asleep when I came back!_

“Thanks for listening to me,” she murmured. “She’s always running off like that. I wish she would at least tell me when she‘s coming home.”

_Miku, I am home! You just... haven’t realized it’s me yet..._

Hibiki tried to nuzzle Miku with her new nose. Miku giggled and pushed her away.

“Hey! That tickled!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the short chapter everyone! I’m still trying to work out the mess past me left (Apparently she decided to start writing a sequel where Chris turns into a cat instead of editing). The next chapter should be longer and fluffier! Thanks for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

Hibiki awoke to the blue blanket of their bunk bed. Miku was gone, but Hibiki could hear her behind her making breakfast for them.

 _Hehe... no school today. I can sleep in..._ Hibiki yawned and nuzzled further into her pillow. Memories of the previous night started to trickle back into her brain and she suddenly sat up, all drowsiness gone.

 _Huh? Am I still a dog?!_ She frantically looked around at herself.

“Oh? You’re up!” Miku said from the kitchen. “Do you want to come down now?”

Hibiki suddenly felt a wagging sensation behind her at the sound of Miku’s voice. 

_Oh, I guess I’m still stuck like this._ Her tail drooped.

Miku walked over to her and lifted her from the bunkbed down to the floor. 

“Good morning.” She smiled and patted Hibiki’s head. 

“You must be hungry... I didn’t have any dog food, but I looked it up and you should be able to eat some of this.” Miku placed a small bowl of white rice in front of her. 

_Miku’s rice! My favorite!_ A grin spread across Hibiki’s canine face and her tail started to wag. Even in dog form, Hibiki’s appetite for rice was endless. She quickly set to work devouring the bowl while Miku sat down at the kotatsu and started working on something.

After Hibiki had licked up the last of her rice, she ambled over to Miku to see what she was doing.

“Oh?” Miku turned and smiled at her when she sat down next to her. Hibiki peeked over the kotatsu at what she had been making.

_Huh?! Miku, what’s this?_

Miku smiled and picked the piece of paper she’d been working on. There was a large picture of dog Hibiki that was taken while she was sleeping and a few unfinished lines of text.

“It’s a lost dog flyer.” Miku smiled and chuckled softly to herself. “I know, it’s usually the owners that make them, but since none of the places I called had heard from anyone, I thought I’d put some up so they can find you. Do you like it?”

_No, I don’t like it! This is my home! What if someone pretends they’re my owner and I have to leave you!_ Hibiki jumped forward and grabbed the flyer with her mouth and started running away.

“Hey! Give that back!” Miku chased after her.

Hibiki circled around the room a few times before burrowing under the kotatsu. She laid down on her stomach, still holding the flyer.

Miku lifted up the blanket and peeked inside. “Hey, I need that!”

 _No!_ Hibiki growled and chomped on the paper harder.

“Bad girl!” Miku said sharply, pointing a finger at her.

 _What?_ Hibiki opened her mouth in protest. _No! I’m a good girl!_

Miku snatched the flyer from her and stood up.

 _Miku, wait! Give that back!_ Hibiki jumped up and tried to steal it back from her. Miku raised the flyer higher out of her reach.

“Sit!”

Hibiki whined and reluctantly followed her orders.

  


* * *

  


Miku stapled a flyer to a telephone pole and moved on to the next one. She glanced back to see if the dog was still following her, only to find her flyer gone and the dog sitting innocently on the sidewalk.

She had reluctantly allowed the dog to come along, after she made a large ruckus when she tried to leave without her.

Miku stapled another flyer and started walking to the next one. She immediately heard a ripping sound behind her and whirled around just in time to see the dog push a crumpled piece of paper behind the telephone pole.

“Is it something about the paper?” Miku asked. “Is that why you keep trying to get them? How are you even jumping that high?”

The dog barked once. Miku shook her head and stapled the next flyer even higher. She started walking to the next one and whirled around, hoping to catch her dog in the act. Instead, she found the golden puppy barking happily and looking across the street.

“Hmm?” Miku cocked her head and followed her gaze across the street to a large grassy park, where two familiar figures were standing.

“Miku!” Kirika called out loudly, waving frantically at her with one arm, her other hand in that of Shirabe’s.

Miku smiled and waved back. Kirika and Shirabe jogged over. Kirika immediately went straight to her new puppy and knelt down to pet her. The dog barked happily and jumped on her knees. 

“What are you guys doing here?” Miku asked.

“Special training.” Shirabe opened her backpack to show Miku an assortment of pink frisbees and a green boomerang. “But you can’t tell Maria,” she quickly appended.

Miku was about to ask if they’d seen Hibiki when she was interrupted by Kirika. 

“Never mind that!” she exclaimed. “When did you get a dog, dess?”

Miku chuckled. “I found her lost in the park yesterday. I’m just taking care of her until I find her owners.”

“She’s very cute.” Shirabe knelt down next to Kirika and patted the dog on her head. She suddenly leaned over and kissed Kirika on the cheek. “But not as cute as Kiri-chan.”

“Ehehe, d-dess!” Kirika blushed and returned the gesture.

“Does she have a name?” Shirabe asked, staring up at her.

“No, I was just putting up these.” Miku showed them the ‘lost dog’ flyers she had made. 

The dog barked angrily and growled when she mentioned the flyers.

“Awww, she doesn’t want to leave you!” Kirika tousled the fur on the dog’s head. “Why would you want to get rid of such a cute puppy, dess?” The dog barked in agreement.

Miku huffed. “I’m not getting rid of her! I just want to find her owners!”

Kirika held up the dog and pushed her in Miku’s face. “But she loves you, dess! She even followed you all the way here without a leash!” To punctuate her point, the dog barked happily and tried to lick her face.

 _Hmm..._ Miku tilted her head. _I guess she did follow me here..._

“At least let us play with her before you go!” Kirika stared up at her with puppy dog eyes. Shirabe added her stare to her partner’s and Miku sighed.

“Okay...” she relented.

“Yes, dess!” Kirika jumped in the air and did a fist pump. The dog barked excitedly and ran circles around the blonde wielder.

Miku smiled as Shirabe handed a frisbee to her girlfriend.

“Go long, dess!”

The dog immediately started running out into the field.

 _She really is a smart dog,_ Miku thought. _It’s almost like she knows what people are saying..._

Miku chuckled softly and shook her head. _I’m probably just going stir crazy without Hibiki. I’ll have to ask Shirabe if she knows where she is later._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m a day late, sorry everyone! I got sidetracked working on some other stuff and neglected this chapter. I’ve got the rest of this fic worked out so hopefully there shouldn’t be any more delays.


	4. Chapter 4

_Ahh~ that was fun! Maybe being a dog isn’t all bad._ Hibiki lay on her back and allowed Kirika to give her a belly rub, playfully nipping at her hand every so often. 

Kirika found a ticklish spot on her stomach and Hibiki giggled and rolled over to escape. She found herself looking up at Shirabe’s face, who was staring at her with unblinking pink eyes. 

“Jiiiiiiii~”

 _Huh?_ Hibiki cocked her head. _Did Shirabe realize who I am?!_ She sat up excitedly and stared at Shirabe.

“Kiri-chan,” she said quietly, shifting her gaze to her partner. “Let’s get a puppy.” 

_Oh... She was just doing her weird staring thing..._

“Ooh! Maybe we can adopt this one if Miku can’t find her owners! She’s so _cute_ dess!” Kirika squealed. 

_Where is Miku anyway? She didn’t play with us very much..._ Hibiki looked around for her partner. Miku was seated on a nearby bench and staring into the middle distance. Miku and Shirabe had played with them for a while but left Kirika and Hibiki to go talk. 

Hibiki rolled over and trotted over to Miku, prompting a disappointed ‘aww’ from Kirika. She hopped up on the bench next to her and gently touched her nose to her chin. Miku started slightly then looked down at her.

“Oh... Sorry about that,” she said, gently ruffling the fur on the side of Hibiki’s neck. “Did you have fun playing?”

_Yeah, but Miku..._ Hibiki let out a soft whine. _Are you okay?_

“It’s getting kinda late. We might have to look for your owners later.”

Hibiki growled softly and buried her face in Miku’s lap.

Miku laughed softly. “Do you not want to go home?”

_My home is with you! If I have to be a puppy, I want to be Miku’s puppy!_

“Okay...” Miku sighed. “You can stay with me for a little longer. We should probably visit a pet shop and get you some real food.” 

_Yay! Miku!_ Hibiki nuzzled her happily. _Wait... are you gonna make me eat dog food?!_

Miku looked down at the stack of flyers in her hand. “I guess I’ll drop these off at the dorm first.”

Hibiki’s tail wagged happily and she nuzzled Miku’s arm.

“Let’s say goodbye to Kirika and Shirabe first.” Miku stood up and Hibiki bounded over to them.

“Maybe Hibiki will be waiting there when we get back...” she whispered to herself. 

  


* * *

  


Miku placed the stack of flyers on the table and looked down at Hibiki.

“Hmm... Oh, I forgot to put out water for you!” Miku moved to the sink and started filling a bowl for her.

Just then, they heard a loud series of knocks at the door that Hibiki immediately recognized as Chris.

 _Chris-chan! Maybe she can help me!_ Hibiki scrambled over, her claws scratching on the hardwood. She tried standing on her hind legs to open the door herself, but her paws kept slipping off the doorknob.

 _Miku!_ Hibiki sat down by the door and whined. _I need help._

Miku strolled down the hallway towards her and smiled. “Need me to get that for you?”

Hibiki’s tail started wagging. _Yes please!_

Miku opened the door and Hibiki immediately started jumping on Chris’s legs, trying to get her attention.

_Chris-chaaaaaan! You gotta recognize me!_

“Hey, so—WAIT WHEN DID YOU GET A DOG?!” Chris tried to fend off the dog that was wildly jumping up her legs and gazing up at her with large golden eyes.

Miku laughed at Chris’s plight. “I found her yesterday at the park. I was going to try finding her owners, but I think she likes it better here.”

“Mind if I come in?” Chris asked.

“Mhm. Go ahead.”

Chris pushed Hibiki away and stepped into the dorm room. “Jeez, she kinda reminds me of _that_ idiot. Always jumping out and tryin’ to hug me.” 

Hibiki barked louder at that. _Please Chris-chan!!! Please recognize me!_

“Settle down you! Anyways, is she in here?” Chris looked around the dorm “We were supposed to meet up this morning but she never showed.”

_Ah! I forgot about that! Ehehe, maybe you would’ve recognize me if I showed up there as a dog!_

“No... I thought she was with you,” Miku said with a worried frown. “She ran off last night and wouldn’t answer her phone so I thought she was on a mission.” 

“She probably just got lost and took the wrong train home.” Chris said casually.

_I’m not lost! I’m right here!_

Miku hid her unconvinced expression as Chris sat down by the kotatsu and slipped her legs underneath. 

Hibiki bounced over and made her home on Chris’s lap in another attempt to have her recognize her. _Chris-chan! I promise I’ll start calling you ‘senpai’ if you recognize me!_

“Gaah! This dog...” Chris muttered. “Did you name it yet?”

“Not yet," Miku said, sitting down on the other side of the kotatsu. “I hadn’t even started thinking about names.”

“We can’t just call it ‘dog’. How about... Hibiki Two!” Chris struck a pose and pointed at Hibiki. Miku burst into laughter while Hibiki barked excitedly. 

_Chris-chan! You’re so close! Please understand!_

Chris turned red. “W-What?! S-She’s just like a second Hibiki!”

“You sound just like Kirika!” Miku stifled another fit of laughter. “And it’s such a silly name for a dog.”

“It’s a great name for a dog.” Chris muttered.

“I think Hibiki would like it though.”

Hibiki stood up and barked loudly. _Of course I'd like it! It’s my name! Come on guys! You’re so close!_

“Well, Hibiki Two seems to like her new name at least.”

Miku smiled faintly and glanced towards the door.

“Hey, are you doing okay?” Chris asked.

“Yes, I just...” Miku sighed and rubbed her temples. “I can’t stop worrying about her!”

“I’m telling you, she’s fine! That idiot could get a mountain dropped on her and come out without a scratch!”

“I know, but this is the third time this month!”

Chris sighed and scratched her cheek. “Maybe you just need to talk to her when she gets back. Y’know, follow that idiot’s advice...” she slipped into an bad imitation of Hibiki, “ _We’re all people! We can talk to each other!_ ”

“Maybe you should try talking to Tsubasa,” Miku said with a small smile.

“S-Shut up,” Chris said, her face beet red.

Hibiki stared, dumbfounded. _Does Chris-chan have a crush on Tsubasa?! N-Never mind that! I didn’t know Miku was always so worried about me!_

Miku‘s smile fell and she looked out the window. “Sometimes I feel like she loves her job more than me... I’ve thought about asking her to quit but.... she’s saving people! I can’t just ask her to stop!”

“I mean, you could ask her to reduce her hours. She’s been signed up for almost all the overtime shifts for the past six months.”

 _Ehehe..._ Hibiki laughed nervously. _I guess I got caught on that one._

“What?!” Miku clenched her fists. “I swear, I’m not going to sleep in the same bed as her for six months when she gets back!”

Hibiki bounded off Chris’ lap and nearly tackled Miku trying to comfort her.

_Miku! I didn’t know you felt this way!!! I promise I’ll be better when I get back! Please don’t make me sleep alone!_

“Second Hibiki!” Miku giggled. “Why are you licking me?!”

Hibki took a bashful step back. _Ehehe... Sorry Miku! I didn’t know I was doing that!_

Chris snorted from across the table “At least Hibiki Two listens to you.” She stood up and stretched. “If you’re that worried I can check with headquarters to see if they know anything.”

Miku ran a hand through some of Hibiki’s fur and sighed. “I’m probably just overreacting. But thank you.”

“Hey, seriously, you shouldn’t have to hide all this from her! That idiot loves you and she’d probably do anything you’d say. So just talk to her already!”

“Sure, sure.” Miku stood up and followed Chris to the door, Hibiki trailing after her. “As long as you talk to Tsubasa.” Miku gave Chris a playful push outside. “Or Maria. Or both.”

“Wait! How do you know about THAT?!”

Miku closed the door before the blushing wielder could lunge back inside. She silently walked back to the kotatsu with her shoulders slumped, a weariness to her movements that Hibiki had never seen before. She took a long breath and slowly slid down to the floor, burying her face in her hands.

“I know she always comes back okay,” Miku said quietly, her voice cracking, “but what if this is the one time she doesn’t...” Miku paused as a fit of sobs wracked her body. “W-What if this is the one time my sun never comes back to me?”

 _I’m sorry, Miku..._ Hibiki walked over and touched her nose to one of Miku’s hands. Without looking up, Miku reached over and ruffled the fur on her head.

  


* * *

  


“Jeez, how is she so brutal with the teasing?!” Chris kicked the elevator wall, the last remnants of a blush fading from her cheeks. The doors dinged and slid open. 

Chris sighed and stepped out into the lobby. As she walked, she pulled out her SONG communicator and dialed HQ.

“Hello?” The cool voice of Aoi Tomosato filtered through the small speaker. “Anything you need, Chris?”

“Hey Aoi, do you know if Hibiki got pulled on a mission last night?”

“Hmm... Not that I know of.”

“Great.” Chris rolled her eyes. “Can you check where Gungnir is right now? Miku hasn’t seen her in a while and she’s getting worried.”

The sound of clacking computer keys filtered through the speaker. “Okay... She should be a few blocks away from your current position. But the logs say she hasn’t moved in almost a day.”

“Have there been any Noise signatures in that area?”

“Not that I can see.”

“Got it. I’m gonna go check it out.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that was a chapter. I don't have anything to add this time, so I hope you enjoyed!


	5. Chapter 5

With Chris gone, Miku had retreated to the bunk bed and the dorm was left unnervingly quiet, save for the occasional sniffle from Miku or the wind blowing against the windows. Unable to follow her sunshine up the ladder, Hibiki had found a comfortable sunny spot by the window where she could watch Miku.

 _Miku... Are you always like this when I’m gone?_ She sighed and lowered her head to the floor. _I’m sorry. I never noticed..._

Before she knew it, she was drifting off to sleep, still staring up at her sunshine.

The first thing Hibiki noticed when she woke up was the lack of sun warming her fur. The afternoon sun had moved and her sunny spot had shifted to shadow.

Hibiki cracked open an eye and lazily looked around. Miku had moved to the kotatsu, where she looked to be doing homework.

As she watched, Miku looked up at the door and let out a long sigh. Hibiki immediately stood up and ran over to give her a few licks on her chin.

_Please don’t be sad, Miku! I’m fine! Everything’s gonna turn out okay!_

Miku giggled and pushed her away. “Come on, I’m working!”

Hibiki beamed and nuzzled her side. Miku ruffled the fur on her head and went back to her homework.

Every so often Hibiki would catch Miku glancing towards the door with a worried expression. She was always sure to jump up and give her sunshine plenty of cuddles and kisses to ease her fears during those moments. Eventually, Miku sighed and placed her pencil down on her notebook. Hibiki was sitting next to her and she gently ran a hand through her fur.

“We should probably go to the pet store now,” Miku said softly. “I want to get home before it’s dark.”

_Are you sure you're okay? We don't have to got out now!_

Miku stood up and walked to the door. She looked back to see if Hibiki was following. “Are you coming?”

  


* * *

  


Hibiki walked happily down the street next to Miku, stopping every so often when a new smell tickled her nose and running forward to catch back up with her partner. Miku seemed better now that she was out, but Hibiki couldn’t shake the feeling that she was just good at hiding it.

“It should be just around here,” Miku said, looking up from her phone. They turned a corner and came to a small park with a food cart parked in the corner.

_Huh? Isn’t this the park from last night?! Which means..._

Hibiki broke into a run. She dashed past the pet store and barreled towards the alley where she had woken up as a dog.

She turned the corner to find the alley swarmed with blue-coated SONG operatives. Hibiki walked under the caution tape and towards the center of the scene.

  


* * *

  


“Second Hibiki!” Miku chased her dog around the corner just in time to see her dog walk under the caution tape. She was about to follow when she heard a voice call out from behind.

“O-Oi! What are you doing here?” Miku turned to find Chris standing behind her on the sidewalk in her SONG uniform. 

“What’s going on? Why is SONG here?” Miku asked frantically. “Is it something to do with Hibiki?!”

Chris looked away and stuffed her hands into her pockets. “Look, you should probably just... go home.”

Miku’s gaze darkened. She’d had enough experience with Hibiki to know when someone was trying to keep something from her.

“Chris,” she said warningly. “What happened to Hibiki?”

“Okay! It’s just... not looking great.” Chris lifted the caution tape for her and Miku paced inside. “I should just let the old man explain, but... we found her Gungnir pendant and a pile of her clothes. But we haven’t found any sign of that idiot yet.” 

Miku swallowed and tried to push down the nervousness that threatened to engulf her. 

Hibiki Two scampered over to the pile of clothes and started digging around in them. 

“M-Maybe she just decided to go streaking,” Chris said, trying to lighten the mood. “That’s something the dummy would do.”

Miku glanced back at her and Chris stuffed her hands deeper in her pockets and stared down at the ground.

_Did she get kidnapped? Is going to be another big thing where she has to go off for a few months and save the world? Or what if... this really is the one time she won't come back?_

Miku was so lost in her thoughts that she barely registered Genjuro walking up next to her.

“Oh, Miku-kun. When did you get a dog?”

“I just... found her in the park,” she said absentmindedly, still watching Hibiki Two dig around in the clothes.

_What is she doing?_

A SONG worker shooed her away and she scampered over to her with something shiny in her mouth.

Miku knelt down and Hibiki Two dropped a small pendant shaped like a sunflower into her hand.

“Hmm? Is this... for me?” 

The dog barked twice.

Miku glanced over at the pile of clothes she’d been digging in then back at her dog. “How did you know this was there?”

The dog ran to the clothes and back again and started running in circles.

“She’s very energetic,” Genjuro said. “Does she have a name?” 

“Hibiki Two...” Miku said, a slight questioning tone to her voice as she tried to piece together the actions of her dog.

“Well, I can certainly see some of my young pupil in her!” Genjuro laughed deeply. “Maybe Hibiki-kun was turned into a dog. Just like that movie!”

Hibiki Two started barking wildly and started jumping on Genjuro’s legs. Everyone stopped what they were doing to stare at her.

“Hmm?” Genjuro knelt down and placed a large hand on her head. “Her eyes are the same color as Hibiki-kun’s.”

Miku was suddenly struck by a thought. _What if Hibiki really was turned into a dog?_

Compared to Symphogears, Noise, and all the things Elfnein had told her about alchemy, someone being transformed into a dog suddenly didn’t seem like such a stretch. It would certainly explain some of the weird behavior she’d seen from Hibiki Two.

“Hibiki?” Miku inquired cautiously, her voice wavering. “Hibiki, if that’s you, bark twice.”

Hibiki barked twice.

“Hibiki! Is it really you?!”

Hibiki barked twice again.

“Mmm. It is like that movie!” Genjuro exclaimed “We should get her to Elfnein-kun to run some tests.” 

Miku couldn’t move from the shock. _She was in front of me this whole time! She was trying to tell me all along and I let her down!_

 _Oh no._ Miku took a sharp breath. _She heard me talking to Chris..._

Chris snorted. “That could just be a coincidence. Hey dog! Run around her three times and then jump in that pile of trash.”

“No wait, Hibiki! Please don’t jump in the trash!”

Miku’s pleas were ignored as Hibiki ran three circles around her and jumped in the pile. She emerged with a comical amount of rubbish stuck to her and whined.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've finally built up a buffer of completed chapters and the urge to post them all at once is strong! Actually, it's been refreshing to not have to worry about editing every week so I finally got around to working on some other WIPs! I'm actually going to start posting some shorts starting next week that I'm really excited about. As always, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! (Finally Hibiki has been recognized!)


	6. Chapter 6

“Honestly, why didn’t you listen to me?” 

Miku was sitting on the floor of their dorm bathroom grooming Hibiki’s fur. They had spent the whole day at SONG headquarters while Elfnein ran tests on Hibiki. She said she’d heard of similar cases with frogs and cats, so hopefully it would only be a few days before she could research a solution to turn Hibiki back.

“You didn’t need to jump in the garbage! I already knew it was you!”

Miku could imagine Hibiki laughing at her. _’I’m fine! Everything’s gonna be okay!’_ she’d say.

“It’s not all fine! I’m the one who has to wash your fur!”

Hibiki turned her head and looked at her with something that might have been a smile.

Miku hated having her sun so close but not being able to communicate. She missed the way Hibiki would give a little giggle every time they touched, as if she got a bit drunk from the contact, or how she would sometimes glance to her side to find Hibiki beaming back at her (often instead of paying attention to their teacher). She even missed how Hibiki complained every time she reminded her to do her homework. 

Miku looked down at her girlfriend’s golden fur and let out a long sigh. At least Hibiki was still here, and that was better that the alternative. She leaned forward and wrapped her arms around her girlfriend. 

“I’m sorry,” she murmured. “I should have noticed it was you earlier.” 

Miku felt a tear start to roll down her cheek and buried her face in Hibiki’s fur. “I didn’t want you to hear me talking to Chris... I don’t want you to see me being so selfish.”

Hibiki turned and leapt at her and tackled her to the floor. Miku couldn’t help but giggle as Hibiki sat on her chest and bombarded her face with playful licks. “H-Hey! Stop it! That tickles!”

Hibiki barked once and gave her a few more licks before she stopped.

“You better not try licking me when you get back to normal.” Miku warned with a smile, rolling onto her side. Hibiki whined and cuddled up to her.

  


* * *

  


Miku walked over and sat down in front of the television, a small bowl of ice cream in her hand. Hibiki scampered over and laid down in her lap.

Miku smiled and patted her head. Hibiki purred and rubbed her face against her wrist. She gave a small laugh and moved her hand down to scratch behind her ears, causing Hibiki’s tail to beat happily against the floor.

Miku felt a small blush spread across her face. _I wonder if she’d like me doing that when she’s back to normal..._

Her thoughts were interrupted by Hibiki leaning over and trying to steal a lick of her ice cream.

“Hey!” Miku pulled the bowl away from her. “You’re a dog now! You could get sick if you eat that!”

Hibiki whimpered and looked up at her with literal puppy eyes.

Miku stifled a laugh. “No!” 

Hibiki grunted and sat down on her lap. Miku smiled and looked up at the TV, her fingers idly tracing patterns in Hibiki’s fur.

Every so often Miku would be interrupted from her show by Hibiki slowly sliding her head closer to the ice cream and trying to steal a lick. Miku successfully defended it until the very last bite, when Hibiki had jumped up and stole it right from her spoon before she could raise it to her lips.

Hibiki raised her head proudly and her tail wagged happily at her victory. Miku smiled softly and shook her head.

“I love you,” she whispered.

Hibiki whined and stepped forward to touch her nose to Miku’s in a gesture she was sure meant the same. Miku once again pulled Hibiki against her chest and rested her head on her fur. Maybe her body was different, but as long as she was with her sun, Miku could be happy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the short chapter everyone! The story needed a quick break before jumping into all the dog-based fluff of the next few chapters.


	7. Chapter 7

“Kohinata, why is there a dog in my classroom?”

Miku looked at the desk next to her, where Hibiki was sitting in her normal spot. It was the first day of school since Hibiki had been turned into a dog and her girlfriend had refused to leave her side that morning.

 _That was fair,_ Miku thought. _She probably didn’t want to be stuck in our room all day. If Maria and Tsubasa weren’t so busy with concerts I would have asked them to look after her._

“She’s my... emotional support dog.” It wasn’t _entirely_ a lie, for the past few days Hibiki had been cheering her up whenever she was sad.

The teacher gave her a weird look and for a moment Miku thought she was going to kick them both out of her class. 

The teacher sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. “Just make sure she doesn’t disturb anyone.” She turned and walked to the chalkboard to begin the lesson.

As the teacher began speaking, Miku noticed Hibiki get distracted by a bird flying by the window, beating her tail against the chair in excitement.

“Hibiki, are you paying attention?” Miku whispered. “Just cause you’re stuck like this doesn’t mean you can ignore your schoolwork.”

Hibiki lowered her head and Miku imagined her pouting.

“It’ll help when you’re making up the homework for all the time you missed.”

Hibiki growled softly and beat her tail against the chair. She let out a loud bark that echoed through the classroom. Several students turned to look at them and Hibiki immediately tried to hide under the desk.

“Kohinata!” the teacher yelled. “See me in my office after class!”

  


* * *

  


“Soooo... Bikki is out again?” Kuriyo sighed and leaned back in her chair. “More magical girl stuff?”

“Who cares about that!” Yumi slammed her hands on the table. “When did you get a dog?!”

Miku felt a pressure on her legs and looked down to find Hibiki leaning on her with her front legs and staring up at her. She looked to their friends then back to Miku and whined.

“Do you want me to tell them?” Miku asked quietly. Hibiki nodded.

“Tell us what?” Kuriyo asked.

“That Hibiki...” Miku sighed. “Hibiki got turned into a dog.”

Yumi gasped. “That kinda thing only happens in anime!”

“Oh, that explains why you were fondling her as much as you usually do.” Shiori remarked, twirling a strand of her blonde hair.

Miku flushed. “I was not fondling her!”

“You two do get a little handsy during class,” Yumi agreed.

“Hey, Hina...” Kuriyo put a hand on her chin and leaned her elbow on the table. “If Bikki is a dog, does that mean she’s naked right now?”

“What?! Dogs can’t be naked!” Yumi slammed her hands on the table again. “They have fur!”

“I mean, they found her clothes, so...”

Hibiki whined and bashfully tried to hide herself behind Miku’s chair.

“Knew it.” Kuriyo leaned back in her chair and smirked.

“Maybe we should go shopping for clothes so she isn’t naked,” Shiori said.

“I’m telling you, it doesn’t count if she’s a dog!”

  


* * *

  


“Hey, Bikki! What about this one?” Kuriyo held up a dog costume shaped like a hamburger that she had picked out of the shop’s pet section.

“That one’s cute.” Miku said. She looked to Hibiki for her reaction, who shook her head and started backing away before Kuriyo could slip it onto her. “Do they have a rice bowl?” 

Hibiki barked and jumped around excitedly at the prospect of being her favorite food. Miku giggled and knelt down to pet her head. Hibiki happily nuzzled back.

“Should we try and find some boots for her?” Shiori asked, looking out the store windows at the light layer of snow covering the street. “It’s been snowing a lot recently.”

“I think her paws should be fine.” 

“Look! This should fit her, right!” Yumi came racing across the shop with a pair of child-sized jeans.

“That wouldn’t work,” Kuriyo said. “It has to cover the lower half of her body.”

“Yeah it will! See!” Yumi held the jeans up so they covered Hibiki’s back legs.

“No it won’t.” Kuriyo rotated the jeans so they were parallel with the floor. “Dogs have four legs. So the pants need to cover all of them.

“What?! No!” Yumi exclaimed. “That’s the worst way for a dog to wear pants!”

“That’s the only way a dog should wear pants!” Kuriyo shot back.

“How about we just let Hibiki decide,” Miku said before the two of them could get into another argument.

About thirty minutes and two more arguments about dogs later, the five of them walked out of the shop. Hibiki had on a blue and white striped shirt and a pair of jeans (over her back legs only, sorry Kuriyo).

“Should we go out to eat somewhere?” Shiori asked.

“I don’t know,” Miku replied. “It would have to be something safe for dogs so Hibiki could join in. That means no okonomiyaki,” she said sternly, looking down at Hibiki, knowing she would want to go to Flower. Hibiki whined and pressed against her leg in protest.

“So?” Kuriyo said. “Dogs can have a little okonomiyaki, as a treat.”

“What? No! She could choke or get sick!” Miku exclaimed.

“Heh. That’s our Miku, always looking out for her wife.”

Miku flushed a bit at being called Hibiki’s wife, even though their friends had been teasing them for being “married” since they first met.

The group rounded the corner and nearly collided with Chris. Hibiki rushed over to greet her by jumping on her legs.

“Oi! Get off of me, you idiot!” Chris pushed her away and froze with her mouth hanging open, looking down at Hibiki for the first time.

“Wait, what the hell is that?!” She pointed at Hibiki and snorted. “Why would you put jeans on a dog?!”

“Bikki didn’t want to be naked anymore.”

“What?!” Chris’s face slowly started turning red. “S-She wasn’t naked before, right?” 

“No! Dogs can’t be naked!” Yumi said loudly. “They have fur!”

“Y-Yeah, they have fur,” Chris said, sounding like she was trying to convince herself.

Kuriyo turned to Yumi with a look in her eye that suggested their argument had just been reignited.

Miku sighed and rubbed her forehead. Shiori caught her gaze and rolled her eyes, also tired of hearing the two of them argue about dogs over and over again.

“Hey, Yumi,” said Shiori. “Isn’t that the new game based on that anime?” She pointed at an arcade across the street.

“Is it?” Yumi looked over and gasped. “It is!” She glanced over at Kuriyo and her gaze hardened. “If I win, you have to accept that dogs can’t be naked.”

“You’re on.” Kuriyo slapped her fist against her palm and started walking over.

“Wait for me!” Yumi grabbed Shiori and raced after her. 

Miku smiled after them and spotted a certain shop besides the arcade. Her eyes flicked to Hibiki and she knelt down next to her.

“I’ll be back soon,” she whispered. “Look after Chris for me.” Hibiki nodded and looked at Chris protectively while Miku walked away.

Chris looked up from her phone, where she was trying to find an answer to if dogs are naked, and realized Miku had disappeared. “Oi! Where’d she go?”

She looked down to find Hibiki staring up at her with shiny golden eyes.

“Great,” she said, rolling her eyes. “I’m gonna have to look after you now, aren’t I?”

Hibiki wagged her tail and nuzzled her leg. 

Chris recoiled. “Oi! Cut that out!”

Hibiki barked happily and spun to waddle down the street, peeking into shop windows every so often and looking back to see if Chris was still following. She eventually found a flower shop and dashed over, turning back to look at Chris expectantly.

“What?” Chris glanced at the shop. “You want me to buy you flowers or something?”

Hibiki whined and shook her head. She jumped back and forth a few times while Chris watched in confusion. 

“You want me to buy flowers and whack you with them?” she guessed. “J-Jeez, do that stuff at home.”

Hibiki shook her head and looked around. She raced over to a poster of Tsubasa holding a microphone and leaned her front paws against the wall below it. She turned back to look at Chris, her tongue lolling out in a dopey grin.

“Oi!” Chris started to turn red. She’d forgotten that the idiot had heard Miku teasing her. “S-Stop it! I’m not gonna buy senpai flowers!”

Hibiki tilted her head quizzically and ran down to a poster of Maria. She did the same thing and looked back at Chris.

Chris flushed a deeper red. “No! Forget about that already, you big dummy!”

Hibiki jumped down and ran over. She cocked her head and looked up at her, no doubt thinking something stupid like _“Chris-chaaan! I love you and I’m gonna try to set you up with the two people that would never want to date you because I have no concept of boundaries!”_ or something.

“S-Shut up, you.”

“Chris?” They turned to find Miku standing there with a small white box in her hand. “Who are you talking to?”

“She was thinking something stupid, I knew it!” Chris flushed and crossed her arms. “Where’d you go anyway?” she grumbled. Hibiki walked over to sniff the package Miku was holding.

“I saw a bakery with a pet-friendly sign and I thought I’d go ask if they had anything safe for dogs to eat. I thought Hibiki might be getting tired of eating just rice so I got her a cupcake.” Miku smiled and held up her package.

“Yeah, like _that_ idiot would ever get tired of rice.”

Hibiki barked in agreement and Miku smiled warmly at her. Chris’s SONG communicator started buzzing in her pocket and she quickly pulled it out. Looking back at Miku, Chris noticed that her smile had faded somewhat.

Chris flipped open the communicator and held it up to her ear. “Hey, Aoi. What’s it this time? More Noise?”

“Huh?!” Curiously enough, it was the voice of Elfnein that replied, instead of either of the technicians. “N-No. There haven’t been any Noise reports.”

“Huh? What is it, shrimpy? You want me to pick you up another muffin or something?”

“No, I just needed you to come in for—“ Elfnein was interrupted by Hibiki jumping on Chris’s legs and trying to bark into the communicator. 

“Oi! Get off me, you idiot!” Chris reached down and pushed around Hibiki’s fur so it fell in her eyes. “She wouldn’t even be able to understand you!”

“O-Oh, is that Hibiki?” Elfnein asked. “Could you please ask her to come in with? I have something important for her.” With that, the line cut off.

“Great.” Chris flipped her communicator shut and turned to Miku and Hibiki. “Shrimpy wants us to come in, I guess.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woof. Sorry I’m late, folks. I’d meant to only take a week off to focus on some other WIPs that I was feeling more inspired on, then I came back to this fic and felt the quality wasn’t great compared to what I’d written more recently. We’re coming up on the end (3 more chapters), and I decided to take some more time off polish up the remaining chapters. We’ll be back to the normal Friday schedule (and Hibiki’s perspective) for the rest of the fic.


	8. Chapter 8

“Why do you think Elfnein called us in?” Miku asked, her shoes clacking on the metal floor of the SONG submarine as the three of them walked down the corridor. “Do you think she found a cure already?”

 _Didn’t she say it would take a few days though?_ Hibiki cocked her head at Miku. 

Almost if she had read her thoughts, Chris said, “I dunno, I thought shrimpy was still working on it.”

The three of them rounded a corner and found Tsubasa leaning against the wall by the simulation chamber. Hibiki immediatly raced over and jumped on her legs in place of her usual hug.

_Hi Tsubasa!_

“T-Tachibana?” Tsubasa froze, unsure how to react to her. 

_Oh yeah, you only want to be hugged by Chris-chan!!_ Hibiki lowered herself back down. Further down the hallway, she spotted Elfnein turning the corner towards them. _Hehe, maybe Elfnein will like my hugs!_

Hibiki raced over to Elfnein and jumped on her legs like she had with Tsubasa. _Hi Elfnein!_

She hadn’t accounted that Elfnein was much smaller and lighter than her, and the force of her surprise hug knocked her off her feet. She landed flat on her back with Hibiki on her chest.

Elfnein lifted her head off the floor and blinked several times. “H-Hello, Hibiki.”

 _Ehehe, sorry..._ Hibiki’s tail drooped and she backed away to let her stand up. 

Elfnein quickly dusted her lab coat off and bent down to retrieve a few trinkets that had fallen out of her pockets. Once she’d collected herself (and the collection of rocks she kept in her pockets for some reason), the two of them made their way back to where the others were waiting.

“Did you find a way to turn Hibiki back?” Miku asked, a touch of urgency to her voice.

“N-No... Not yet.” Elfnein looked down at the floor and her shoulders slumped.

 _It’s fine! I’m sure everything will turn out okay!_ Hibiki licked her fingers to cheer her up. Elfnein let out a small “eep!” and pulled her hand out of Hibiki’s reach.

“So why did you want us here?”

“W-Well, the commander didn’t want us to be down a wielder and he asked if there was a way for Hibiki to form her Gear. S-So I said that theoretically since the Symphogears can adapt to the user’s image, then—“

“The idiot can use her Gear again, right?” Chris asked impatiently.

“Mhm.” Tsubasa hummed her agreement. “It should be just like the time Maria, Yukine and I transformed our Gears into swimsuits.”

“Y-Yes. Just like that. Hibiki, if you would...” Elfnein knelt down and produced her Gungnir pendant from a pocket. She held the loop of string out for Hibiki to slip her head through. Hibiki let Elfnein adjust the string around her neck and took a few steps back. She looked down at her pendant, not quite believing she could form her Gear in her current state.

“I believe you can do it, Tachibana.” Tsubasa said, picking up on her hesitation. She nodded her encouragement and looked at Chris. “Right, Yukine?” 

“Y-Yeah, sure.” Chris crossed her arms and glanced away.

_I’m sure I can do it if Chris-chan believes in me!_

“She probably just thought something stupid again,” Chris mumbled under her breath.

Hibiki took a deep breath and let out a series of barks that vaguely resembled her holy chant. She felt herself being drawn up into the blinding white void as her Gear formed around her. The usual echos of songs that played in the space were replaced by a glorious harmony of dog barks. Normally she did a few moves to warm up after forming her gear and she tried her best to do the same in her new body, succeeding in teetering on her back legs and flailing her front paws about. 

The white light faded and Hibiki found herself back in the corridor of the SONG submarine. She looked down to find her front paws encased in boots of Gungnir white and yellow. 

_It worked!_ Hibiki pranced around Elfnein in excitement, showing off her new Gear. She turned her head and caught a glimpse of her scarf floating behind her. 

_Ahh! What’s that?! I need to catch it!_ Hibiki jumped to the side and tried to bite the offending piece of fabric, but it slipped out of the way just before she could chomp down on it.

 _GRRR!_ Hibiki jumped around and tried to bite her scarf again, to no avail. Before long, she was running circles around herself trying to pin down the evasive piece of clothing.

Hibiki finally felt her jaws close around the scarf and shook her head rapidly to make sure it was dead, a soft growl escaping her lips.

With her scarf thoroughly defeated, she looked up to see her friends staring at her. Tsubasa had a look of disbelief on her face while Chris could barely contain her snickering. Miku simply smiled and slowly shook her head. Elfnein hadn’t even noticed the entire spectacle, too preoccupied with something on her tablet. 

“Strange,” she mumbled to herself. “The Aufwachen waveform shouldn’t be reacting this way. There shouldn’t be overlap of the pattern fractals. It’s almost as if... no, it would be impossible for her to have two. I-I’ll have to run some tests.” Elfnein turned and started walking down the hallway, still looking down at her tablet and mumbling to herself. She almost bumped into a wall before looking up and scurrying away to her lab.

“W-Well, if Tachibana is finished, I believe we can start training,” Tsubasa said, walking to the door. She glanced back to see if the others were following.

 _Does this mean I’m going to be going on missions again?_ Hibiki looked back at Miku, who had taken a seat on a nearby bench. _I don’t want Miku to feel lonely again..._

Hibiki walked over to Miku and jumped up next to her. She slowly touched her nose to her chin, hoping her girlfriend would notice her concern.

“I’ll be fine, you don’t have to worry about me.” Miku gave her a warm smile and lightly ruffled her fur before pulling a book out of her bag. Hibiki gave her one last nuzzle before racing over to the simulation chamber, where Chris and Tsubasa were waiting for her.

For a moment, she thought she saw the outline of a hooded figure floating behind Tsubasa, but before she could react, it had disappeared in the blink of an eye. 

_Huh?_ Hibiki blinked and looked around. _Was I just imagining things?_

“Oi! Get in here already!” Chris called out to her.

Hibiki glanced back at Miku one last time before going inside. _I’ll be back soon, Miku!_

  


* * *

  
Tsubasa threw her sword at Chris, the silver length of metal spinning rapidly as it arced through the air. Hibiki had to stop herself from instinctively chasing after it. Chris ducked and the sword landed in a column of simulated concrete behind her.

Hibiki heard a whistling sound and whirled just in time to avoid a bright red crossbow bolt that impacted near her front paws. Chris shot another volley at her in a line headed towards her haunches.

Hibiki pushed off with her back legs and twisted her body in midair, a crossbow bolt barely grazing her tail. She found herself looking down at the floor and balancing on her front paws.

_Ahh! How do I get down?!_

Chris shot another volley at her and Hibiki teetered forward on her front paws to avoid them.

_Whaa~!_

Chris paused her assault to chuckle at her. “What are you doing, you idiot?!”

_I’m stuck! Help me, Chris-chan!_

Hibiki tipped over herself and did a somersault. She looked up to find Chris had taken advantage of the distraction to fire a barrage of giant missiles at her. _Ahh! No fair!_

Hibiki barely dodged out of the way of the first missile and jumped over the second one, her paws leaving two indents in the metal as she pushed off it.

Chris had gotten so distracted watching Hibiki dodge her assault that Tsubasa had taken the opening to rush her.

 _Chris-chan likes Tsubasa, right?_ Hibiki thought, jumping over another missile. _Ehehe... You can thank me later, Chris-chan!_

Hibiki started to run towards Tsubasa in a roundabout fashion, hoping Chris wouldn’t notice the other wielder’s approach for the sake of her own plan.

Hibiki dodged a spray of gatling gun fire and skidded across the floor behind a jagged chunk of concrete. She ducked under a twisted array of rebar and popped up in front of Tsubasa just as she was about to strike.

Tsubasa tripped over her and fell right onto Chris. She landed with one hand next to Chris’s head and the other on her breast, their faces only a few centimeters apart. Both wielders froze with shocked looks on their faces and Chris turned bright red.

 _Just like in an anime! Ehehe, Yumi would be proud!_ Hibiki beamed at her accomplishment and let out a proud bark that seemed to snap the two of them from their trance.

“M-My apologies, Yukine,” Tsubasa said, standing up and offering Chris a hand. “I stumbled over Tachibana.”

“Y-Yeah.” Chris took Tsubasa’s hand without meeting her eyes and stood up. 

Tsubasa threw a quick glance back at Hibiki before she walked over to a control panel on the wall of the simulation chamber. She pressed a button and the simulated scene dissipated, leaving the three of them standing in the sanitary white simulation chamber.

After making sure her back was turned, Chris glared down at Hibiki and whispered, “What was that for, you idiot?!”

 _I’m helping you out, Chris-chan! Soon you two will be kissing and cuddling and sleeping in the same bed like me and Miku and then I can help you with Maria!_ Hibiki’s tail wagged happily as she thought of helping her friend get together with her crushes. Chris shot her a disgruntled look.

Back at the control panel, Tsubasa had opened a channel to the command center.

“Aoi-san, could you reset the simulation?” Her eyes flitted over to Hibiki and narrowed into a glare. “I’d like a rematch.”

 _Ehehe..._ Hibiki laughed nervously and scraped a paw on the floor.

  


* * *

  


Hibiki trotted over to Miku and collapsed at her side, panting heavily. Miku gave her a confused look and gently rubbed the fur on the side of her stomach.

“Is everything okay?”

 _Chris-chan and Tsubasa teamed up on me!_ Hibiki whined. _I was only trying to help!_

“Oh, the commander dropped these off for you. He said they were for training.” Miku gestured to a brown paper bag on the bench next to her.

 _Huh?_ Hibiki stood up and tried to push the bag off with her nose. Her new body wasn’t very good at fine movement and she eventually had to move to the other side and pull it off with her teeth. She quickly stepped back around, excited to see what Genjuro had left for her. 

She grinned when she saw a blue DVD case titled ‘Kung-Fu Dog 3’ The image on the cover displayed a small dog wearing a black belt jumping out of an exploding airplane.

_More training movies! Thanks, master!_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic actually got its name because I had jokingly written 'Barkwisyall necell Gungnir tron~' at the top of this chapter and I can't resist a pun.


	9. Chapter 9

“Hibiki, do you know where my socks are?” Miku glanced down at the time on her phone. “We should leave now if we want to get to dinner on time.”

Everyone had decided to go out to dinner after Maria had returned from her last mission, making this the first time in a few weeks that all six wielders were in the city at once.

 _Uh, sure! I’ll go get them for you, Miku!_ Hibiki ran into the other room of their dorm. She walked over and peered inside one of the open drawers of Miku’s dresser. She pushed away a folded pair of purple running shorts with her nose and found a pair of navy wool socks with a white snowflake pattern.

 _Huh? Aren’t these mine?_ Hibiki pushed away the socks to find a pile of her shirts. _Eh?! Has Miku been stealing my clothes?! I knew I saw her wearing my shirt last week!_

Hibiki rummaged through the drawer, finding a few more items of clothing that she had “lost” but none of Miku’s socks.

 _Oh, I forgot! I stole all of Miku’s socks! Ehehe, they’re so comfy..._ Hibiki let out a contented sigh and walked over to her own drawer. She selected a pair of black socks and ran back to the door to drop them at her girlfriend’s feet.

“Hehe, good girl.” Miku smiled and rubbed her head. Hibiki nuzzled back, her Gungnir pendant swaying slightly with the movement. 

Thankfully, Hibiki hadn’t needed to use her Gear for anything other than training in the week since Elfnein had returned it to her. Genjuro was hesitant to deploy her in her new body and there hadn’t been any incident large enough for him to change his mind. Hibiki felt a little guilty not being out there helping people, but she enjoyed the time alone with Miku, even if they couldn’t communicate like they used to.

“Ready?” Miku stood up and opened the door. Hibiki’s tail started to wag excitedly.

_Yeah! I can’t wait to see everyone!_  


  


* * *

  
_Chris-chaaaaaan!_ Hibiki ran over and jumped up on her legs. She and Miku had almost made it the restaurant when they spotted Chris across the street, and Hibiki _never_ gave up a chance to surprise her best friend with hugs.

“Oi! Stop doing that, you idiot!” Chris sputtered. She reached down and slipped her hands under Hibiki’s armpits and picked her up, holding her away from her body. “Ha! Try hugging me now”

Hibiki leaned forward and licked her chin. Chris yelped and dropped her.

“I don’t think you’ll ever be able to escape her hugs, Chris,” Miku said, smiling warmly at them.

“That wasn’t a hug! That was a lick!” Chris flushed. “She better not start licking me!”

Hibiki grinned and nuzzled her leg. The three of them kept walking together, Chris dragging her feet through the thin layer of slush as Miku told her about her attempt to bake some dog-safe cookies for Hibiki.

Shirabe and Kirika were already waiting outside the restaurant for them, Maria standing close behind them.

“Hibiki!” Kirika raced over as soon as she noticed them and knelt down to pet her. “We’re sorry we didn’t recognize you, dess!”

 _It’s fine, Kirika! Everything worked out okay!_ Hibiki nuzzled back to show that she wasn’t upset.

“H-Hello, Hibiki,” Maria said stiffly, keeping her distance. She reached out and gave her a half-pet, half-tap on the snout with one finger before withdrawing.

 _Huh? What was that?_ Hibiki tilted her head at Maria, who had retreated to the other side of the group with a nervous expression on her face.

“Maria is afraid of dogs,” Shirabe reported.

“What?!” Maria bristled at the accusation. “I am not!”

_Oh, it must be her cat ears! Everyone knows cats and dogs don’t get along!_

“Huh?” Kirika poked Maria’s arm. “Then what about that time in the park, dess?”

“That doesn’t count!” Maria said haughtily. “That dog was clearly rabid!”

“It was barely the size as Kiri-chan’s hand,” Shirabe said quietly. 

“Y-Yes, well, I still would have been much more comfortable if it hadn’t been allowed to run rampant.” Maria patted down a stray tress of pink hair in an effort to regain her composure. 

Kirika let out an unconvinced “dess”.

“Oh, I nearly forgot!” Maria said, changing the subject before she could be further pressed on her fear of fluffy canines. “Tsubasa is running late and said to start without her. And Elfnein won’t be attending, she told me she was close to finishing her cure for Hibiki and wanted to work on it.”

Miku beamed and knelt down to plant a kiss on Hibiki’s head.

“Oi! Do that at home!” Chris yelled, pointing at them.

“Hibiki’s a dog, dess!” Kirika exclaimed. “If you only kiss dogs at home, society would break down!” Besides her, Shirabe nodded at her partner’s statement.

“It’s a special case!” Chris argued. “She only looks like a dog! It’s just as bad as them coddling each other as humans!”

Maria sighed and walked inside without waiting for them. Miku gave a glance back before following her. Hibiki whined, torn between following her sunshine and staying with the others.

“Kiri-chan...” Shirabe tugged on her partner’s sleeve and pointed inside.

“Ah! Wait for us, dess!” Kirika jumped and ran inside after them, the others following close behind.

Maria had already started talking to the hostess, a severe-looking woman with her hair tied in a tight bun. She raised an eyebrow at Hibiki as she walked in and glanced up at the group. “I’m afraid your dog needs a leash.”

“It’s fine, she’s well trained,” Chris said. “Watch this. Roll over!” She pointed at Hibiki, who didn’t move a muscle. 

“Oi, why aren’t you doing it?!” she whispered.

Hibiki looked down at the floor and back up at Chris. _I’m not gonna roll over here! I don’t want Miku to have to clean my fur again!_

“Ehehe, what if one of us kept an eye on her, dess?” Kirika suggested.

  


* * *

  


“Why’d I get stuck looking after you?” Chris grumbled as she inspected the dog sitting on her lap.

_Because Kirika knows how much we love each other!_

“You better not be thinking something weird right now,” Chris warned.

 _Ehehe, I love you too, Chris-chan!_ Hibiki barked happily and licked her cheek.

“Oi! What did I say about licking?!” Chris pointed across the table at Miku. “Do that with her, not me! Preferably _at home_!”

Hibiki was about to sneak in another quick lick on her cheek when Shirabe started to sit down in the chair next to them.

 _Wait, you can’t sit there!_ Hibiki quickly leaned over to place her paws on the seat. _Chris-chan needs to sit next to Tsubasa!_

“Jiiiiiii~” Shirabe stared at her blankly. 

_Pleeeease! Maria was too scared of me to sit next to us!_ Hibiki looked up at her with pleading eyes, hoping she would understand the dire plight that Chris’s romance life was in.

“I understand.” Shirabe nodded solemnly. “Chris-senpai might want somewhere to rest her legs.”

_Uh, sure! Ehehe, that works!_

Shirabe walked around the table and passed by the only other empty seat in favor of sliding into the same chair as her partner. Kirika scooted over to give her more space and Shirabe gave her a small peck on the cheek in return. 

Kirika giggled and looked like she was about to go in for more, but a pointed “ahem” from Maria made the couple quickly sit up straight in their seat.

Hibiki beamed and looked back at Chris, who had been inspecting the menu while she was doing the hard work of getting her together with her crush. She ducked under her arm and looked at the menu, which was filled with enough delicious-looking dishes to make her mouth start water.

“Alright, just point to the one you want,” Chris grumbled.

Hibiki looked down at the menu for a second and placed her paw over a meaty bowl of noodles.

“Which one did she want?” Miku asked, leaning over close enough to make Chris start to blush.

“That one.” 

“Hmm...” Miku checked the ingredient list on her own menu and did a quick search on her phone. “I don’t think dogs can eat that...”

 _What?! But it looks so tasty!_ Hibiki looked at Miku and gave her best puppy eyes. _Please, Miku!_

“Listen to your girlfriend, you dummy.” Chris lightly chopped her on the head. “We wouldn’t want you to die from some dumb dog disease or something.”

 _Aww, Chris-chan!_ Hibiki beamed and started to give her another round of licks.

“O-Oi! I’m serious!” Chris got a hand on her face and pushed her away. “Quit licking me!”

 _Aww..._ Hibiki reluctantly stopped. _I bet you’d let Tsubasa lick you..._

Speaking of Tsubasa...

“Tsubasa’s here, dess!” Kirika stood up and waved excitedly, her chair scraping on the floor.

Tsubasa nodded politely to the hostess glaring at Kirika and started walking over. Hibiki gasped when she saw that she was headed for the empty seat at the head of the table and not the one next to Chris.

 _Wait! You have to sit next to Chris-chan!_ She jumped down and raced over to take it before Tsubasa could sit down. 

“Tachibana?” Tsubasa’s brow furrowed as she looked down at her. 

“I think she wants you to sit over here,” Miku piped up.

Tsubasa sighed. “Very well.” She nodded to Chris as she walked over. “Yukine.”

Hibiki beamed as Tsubasa took a seat next to Chris, causing her cheeks to take on the hue of cherry blossoms. She was sure that the usually stalwart Tsubasa was blushing a bit too.

Hibiki’s new seat was facing the window and she watched a single snowflake fall.

_Hehe, maybe it’ll snow tonight! Aww... I won’t be able to have a snowball fight with everyone until Elfnein finds a way to turn me back..._

The snowflake Hibiki was watching touched down next to the heel of a figure draped in a white cloak.

_Huh?_

She looked up to find the figure in white standing there, one hand pressed against the glass, their cloak blowing softly behind them. She still couldn’t quite make out all their features under the hood, but their lips wore a bittersweet smile as they stared inside at the table of wielders. Hibiki confusedly followed their gaze to Chris trying to talk to Tsubasa before she turned back to them. The cloaked figure stayed there for a moment before turning and walking away.

 _Wait! Come back! You need to fix me!_ Hibiki jumped down from her seat and dashed over to the door, ducking through the legs of a couple walking in.

 _Why did you turn me into a dog?_ She ran in the direction the figure had walked off in and turned into the alley next to the restaurant, not unlike the one she first seen them in. The figure was standing at the end of the alley, that smile replaced by a small smirk. 

_Why are you doing this? Whatever it is, I can help you!_ Hibiki continued running at them, her holy song beginning to beat in her chest should she reach for it.

“Hibiki?” The sound of Miku’s voice echoed into the alley.

 _M-Miku?_ Hibiki skidded to a halt and looked back over her shoulder. Miku had followed her out and was standing at the entrance to the alleyway. 

Hibiki glanced back to the figure in white just in time to catch the flutter of a white cloak as it slipped around a corner.

Any other time she would’ve given chase without hesitation, but—Hibiki looked back at Miku— she couldn’t just leave her! She knew now how much she worried about her and running away now could only hurt her. 

Hibiki didn’t want her sunshine to cry and stay up late wondering when she would come home. She longed to follow and find out if the specter could turn her back, but... her sunshine was more important. 

Hibiki whined and slowly trotted back to her girlfriend.

“Are you okay?” Miku knelt down and started looking all over her for any sign of injury.

 _Yeah... I’m okay, Miku._ Hibiki closed her eyes as Miku ran her hands through her fur. _I just want things to go back to normal! I wanna kiss you and fall asleep cuddling and hug Chris-chan and—_

Hibiki felt something cold touch her nose and flicked her eyes open. A big fat snowflake had landed on her nose and was slowly disintegrating, causing her nose to tingle.

 _Ahh! That tickles!_ She shook her head around to get it off, only for two more to land in its place. She snorted and bucked her head, jumping around to get them off. Eventually she shook her whole body, shedding a small shower of snowflakes.

She looked back at Miku, who had been watching her dance around with an amused smile, the snow falling gently behind her.

_Ehehe, Miku! It’s snowing!_

Miku smiled and brushed a snowflake off one of her ears.

“Did you run out here just for the snow?” she asked, chuckling to herself.

 _No, I followed the— Wait, didn’t you see them?_ Hibiki looked back at where the figure in white had been standing. There was no trace of them, not even footprints left in the snow.

Miku’s phone started to ring and she quickly pulled it out of her pocket. Hibiki recognized the ringtone as part of the song they’d sung while doing karaoke with Tsubasa.

_“Let’s always be together, okay?”  
“No matter”  
“No matter”  
“What kind of painful”  
“Thing happens”  
“Let’s block it with our dreams”_

Hibiki felt her heart sink a little as she heard it. She would always be together with her sunshine, but could dreams alone fix their problems? Hibiki needed to change if she didn’t want her sunshine to worry anymore.

Miku glanced up at Hibiki before turning the call to speakerphone.

“H-Hello? Miku?” Elfnein said. “I-It’s Elfnein. A-Are you there? Ah! Is this a message?! Um...” There was the sound of her fumbling with the phone. 

Miku opened her mouth to reply, but Elfnein started babbling again before she could. 

“W-Well, I think I’ve finished the cure for Hibiki-san, so umm, say something if you’re there or if this is a message, uh... I guess you should come to the headquarters. I don’t sleep so any time is fine. Uhhh... How do I stop this?” There was the sound of more fumbling before the line clicked off.

“Hibiki!” A smile slowly formed on Miku’s face. She blinked happy tears from her eyes and pulled her tight to her chest.

 _I guess... everything turned out okay._ Hibiki paused before nuzzling her girlfriend back.

High above, a figure draped in a white cloak looked down on them and smiled. 

Despite all the time she’d spent on Earth, and all the effort she’d expended, she had never made as much of an impact as the little golden-haired wielder below. She’d been watching her for a while, and was fed up of the two of them ignoring the giant problem with their relationship. Miku refused to acknowledge that her pain was worth talking about, and Hibiki hadn’t even realizing what she was doing wrong. She hoped that using her remaining power had been able to help the two of them be a little happier.

The rest of the wielders filed into into the alley, no doubt wondering where the other two had run off to. She barely knew any of them. Well, she had known one, but she doubted she would ever want to see her again.

She sighed and let herself dissipate into the wind. She would probably have to have a talk with Hibiki before she turned back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Saw an opportunity to slip in the lyrics the the best Symphogear song and had to take it! Next chapter is probably going to be up late, I might need some more time to make sure the ending is the best I can make it. In other news, I went back and made some minor changes to the previous chapters to fix grammar and such. Hope barkwis _y’all_ enjoyed.


	10. Chapter 10

Hibiki was practically bouncing with excitement as she raced down the corridors of the submarine, Miku following somewhere behind her.

Soon after they had gotten the call from Elfnein, Ogawa had mysteriously appeared with a car to shuttle them back to headquarters. 

Only she and Miku had ended up coming with him, the other girls had remained at the restaurant to finish their dinner. Maria wouldn’t allow Kirika or Shirabe to leave until they both finished eating their veggies, and Chris and Tsubasa had decided to stay after Hibiki tried for half an hour to get them to ride on Tsubasa’s motorcycle together (Chris insisted she didn’t want to ride with her because she thought Tsubasa would drive them into a wall, but she was probably just looking for an excuse not to hug her crush).

Hibiki dashed around a corner and collided headfirst into a pair of khaki pants belonging to Genjuro.

 _Master!_ Hibiki barked excitedly.

“Ah, Hibiki-kun.” He knelt down and scratched her head as Hibiki bounced around excitedly and pushed her face into his hand. “What are you doing here?”

 _Looking for Elfnein!_ Hibiki glanced over her shoulder for Miku, only to realize she’d accidentally ran too far ahead and left her girlfriend somewhere in the maze of corridors behind her. _Oh, I guess I need to act it out._

Hibiki balanced on her back paws and gave a small bark, then dropped back down and wiggled her body. She cocked her head and looked up at Genjuro expectantly.

“Mhm.” Genjuro nodded seriously. “You’re looking for Elfnein-kun.”

_It worked!_ Hibiki’s tail wagged proudly.

“She’s in her lab... as usual.” Genjuro frowned and scratched his chin. “She really needs to sleep. She’s barely slept a single hour this month.”

Miku rounded the corner, looking winded.

“O-Oh, commander,” she said, panting slightly. “I—“ She was interpreted by a mass of golden fur jumping circles around her and barking excitedly.

_Come on! Let’s go!_

Genjuro stood up and chuckled. “Don’t let me get in the way. I’m sure Hibiki-kun is excited to get back.”

Hibiki barked an affirmative and took off running down the hall. She only got a few meters away before she realized Miku wasn’t following. She stopped and looked back over her shoulder to see Miku bent over and resting her hands on her thighs.

“W-Wait, Hibiki...” Miku took a few deep breaths. “Could you... slow down a bit? I only have two legs... I can’t keep up.”

_Ehehe... Sorry Miku!_ Hibiki loped back to her side and the two of them set off at a slightly more leisurely pace through the halls. Hibiki found it hard to match Miku’s speed and kept running up to the next corner to wait.

When the door to Elfnein’s lab finally came into view, Hibiki couldn’t contain herself and raced over. She readied herself for a mighty leap to reach the panel next to the door. She wiggled her haunches and sprung up in a high arc, pressing the button with a paw during the highest point of her jump.

The door to Elfnein’s lab slid open with a quiet hiss and a stack of heavy leather books nearly tumbled down on the two of them.

Hibiki yelped and jumped back at the loud noise. She instinctively growled and placed herself between Miku and the dangerous stack of books, her hackles raised. 

One last book fell down and Hibiki started to relax, assured that the danger to Miku’s head had passed. 

“Ready?” Miku asked, leaning down to tousle the fur on her head.

_Yeah!_ Hibiki grinned with her tongue lolling out and stumbled over the pile of books. She slid down into the cluttered lab, nearly knocking down another stack of books in the process.

Across the room, Elfnein was hunched over her workbench with her back to them. She was so preoccupied with whatever she was working on that she hadn’t noticed them enter.

“Elfnein?” Miku asked, cautiously stepping in over the fallen books.

“Ah!” Elfnein jolted upright at the noise but didn’t turn around. “O-One moment. I’m almost done...” She went back to her fiddling and there was the sound of compressed air being released, almost like she was opening a soda can.

_Done with what?_ Hibiki started to amble over when she caught a whiff of a curious smell emanating from a cracked clay pot filled with purple glitter. 

_Ooh! What’s that?_ She quickly waddled over and stuck her nose inside the pot to get a better sniff. She immediately let out a loud sneeze and bonked her head on the pot as she tried to pull her head out.

Miku knelt down to see if she was okay, but before she could ask, Elfnein stood up abruptly, her chair scraping against the floor.

“It’s finished,” she said breathlessly. “My greatest creation.” Elfnein took a sip of coffee from a nearby mug and spun around to present her creation. “Behold! A power that surpasses Dáinsleif!” 

_Eh?!_ Hibiki took a few steps backwards and stared at her in disbelief. Besides her, Miku gasped.

Sitting on Elfnein’s palm was a baseball cap with four coffee cans strapped to each side. A mess of plastic tubing dangled off the side, presumably for easy drinking access. A large patch on the back declared ‘Elfnein’s— Do not touch!’.

The whole thing reminded Hibiki of the hat her dad wore to drink beer when he went out gambling on baseball games. She hoped Elfnein was only going to use it to drink coffee and not beer.

Elfnein beamed as she placed it on her head. “With this specialized headgear, my productivity should go up by thirty percent! Now I don’t have to make coffee every fifteen minutes! And the commander can’t hide the coffee machine from me anymore!“ 

Elfnein noticed she was still holding a mug of coffee in her other hand and her gaze flickered between it and her hat. Eventually she decided to take a sip from the mug first, then from her hat.

“Oh, umm... yes. Why did you come here again?” Elfnein tilted her head at them and her hat slid dangerously close to falling off her head.

“You said you had finished the cure for Hibiki,” Miku said slowly, looking concerned.

“Ah! You mean the alchemical solution to transmute her back to a human? I have it right here!” Elfnein quickly patted her pockets with her one free hand and produced a skinny vial filled to the brim with small white grains of sand. “Here it is!”

She squinted at it for a moment. “Actually, this is sugar for my coffee.” Elfnein dumped the entire vial in her mug and reached back into her coat. After another minute of rummaging, she pulled out another vial filled with a bubbling orange fluid. 

“This is it!” She glanced between the vial of orange liquid and her mug with an unsure look on her face. “Or maybe the other one was the cure...” Elfnein peered down into her mug and took a cautious sip. “N-No, that was salt.” 

Hibiki looked at the orange vial ravenously. _That’s what’s gonna turn me back?! Do I need to drink it?_

She rushed over and jumped on Elfnein’s legs to get to it. _I can’t wait to get back and kiss Miku!_

“Ah! W-Wait, Hibiki!” Elfnein held the vial and her mug of coffee high above her head and nervously backed away, colliding with a stack of books and nearly losing her coffee hat. “N-No! Bad dog! B-Bad Hibiki! I can’t do the procedure here!” 

_Eh?!_ Hibiki paused her assault and stared up at her.

“It needs to be administered in one of the medical pods I modified.” Elfnein cautiously lowered her arms. 

_Oh, ehehehe..._ Hibiki bashfully lowered herself back down to the floor.

Elfnein crouched down and took a quick sip from her coffee hat. “I’m sorry for calling you a bad dog,” she whispered.

_Ehehe, it’s fine! I’m sorry for jumping on you!_ Hibiki happily licked her cheek. Elfnein scrambled away and bumped into the counter, nearly sending a teetering stack of books to the floor.

After Elfnein had applied an entire bottle of hand sanitizer to the place Hibiki had licked, she stood up and downed her entire mug of salted coffee before slamming it on the desk.

“Right this way.” She took a loud slurp from her new coffee hat as she guided them out of her lab, nearly tripping over the fallen stack of books.

Hibiki and Miku followed her down a few corridors and into the medical room. Elfnein passed by the streamlined medical pod to go over to a console in the corner. She walked over to the chair behind it and pushed off a backpack marked ‘Fujitaka’s— Do Not Touch!’ and sat down.

“T-There’s a hospital gown in the corner,” she said, already punching in commands on the interface. “Aoi said that Hibiki should be wearing something when she woke up.” 

_Hehe, thanks Aoi!_ Hibiki bounded over to the corner she had specified and looked up at the human sized hospital gown hanging from the wall.

_Miku!_ She whined and looked back at her girlfriend. _I think I need help..._

As Miku helped her out of her tiny doggy clothes and into the hospital gown, Hibiki had a few moments to think back on her time as a dog.

She would be lying if she said she wouldn’t miss some parts of being a puppy. She loved how Miku would absentmindedly twirl her fur when she was reading or the way her body seemed to fit perfectly against her partner’s when they slept.

It had almost been a fun experience. _Almost._

Hibiki felt some of the elation in her heart die when she remembered how worried Miku had been for her. And that night in the bathroom, Miku said she was being selfish.

They... were going to have to talk about that.

“There.” Miku finished tying the human-sized hospital gown on her and backed away with a faint smile. “All done.”

_Thanks, Miku._ Hibiki turned and started walking over to the medical pod. Almost immediately, her paw got stuck in the gown and she faceplanted on the floor. _Ow!_

Hibiki clumsily stood up and stared at the small distance separating her from the bed, now feeling like it would be a longer trek than it should be.

_I can’t walk! Meh!_ Hibiki awkwardly hopped her way over like a rabbit and looked up at the bed. _Ah! I can’t jump up there either!_ She looked over at Elfnein and whined. _Elfnein! Do you have a little doggy staircase for me?_

Miku gave a small laugh and walked over to help her up. 

Elfnein stood up and walked over. “If you lay down, we’ll be ready.”

_Okay!_ Hibiki leaned over and gave Elfnein one last lick on the cheek. She turned and stared up at her girlfriend. _I’ll see you soon, Miku!_

Miku patted her on the head and backed away with a small, almost nervous smile.

Hibiki laid down and Elfnein fussed over her with a few last minute preparations. The orange vial was plugged into a socket on the console, Elfnein scrambled around hitting buttons and flicking switches, and the blue dome slowly hissed shut around her.

Hibiki’s eyelids started to feel heavy and she began to drift off. The last thing she saw before her eyes closed was her girlfriend’s concerned face.

Hibiki opened her eyes and found herself in a dark void. Across from her stood the specter in white, their face still hidden under the hood. Hibiki was once again stuck by how familiar something seemed about them.

The figure stepped towards her, their cloak fluttering gently behind them, despite there not being any wind. The fabric almost seemed to _crinkle_ as it moved, and the light reflected off it like it was some sort of plastic.

Actually, now that Hibiki was _really_ looking at it, the cloak looked less like a mysterious cape and more like one of those ponchos she had seen Tsubasa wear backstage before her concerts.

The specter smirked and slowly reached up to pull back their hood, shaking loose a poofy mane of fiery orange hair that stuck up like the flight feathers of a wing.

“Hey kid.” Kanade grinned. “Miss me?”

  


* * *

  


Miku stared down at the sleeping body of Hibiki and let out a long worried sigh. Elfnein had assured her that she would be fine all seven times that she asked her. All there was to do was wait.

As much as she was excited to finally have her girlfriend back, there was a growing knot of dread in her stomach. It had been easy to push it off when Hibiki was a dog, but now that she would be back soon, the feeling had started to fester.

Miku had tried so hard to hide her pain from her. She was supposed to be Hibiki’s sunshine, the warm sunny spot that she could always come home to. She wasn’t supposed to worry.

But now Hibiki knew.

Miku’s breath started to quicken and she clenched and unclenched her fists anxiously.

It was a selfish desire, but all she wanted was for Hibiki to be safe. For Hibiki to stay at home with her, where she knew she would get enough food and sleep and finished all her schoolwork on time. 

But she was off _saving_ people. And Hibiki loved it. Sometimes, Miku thought, she loved helping others more than she loved her. 

She tried to dispute it, but these days, Hibiki certainly spent more time away with SONG than with her. And she couldn’t remember the last time they’d gone on a date that hadn’t ended in explosions or Hibiki running off.

Miku let out a shaky sigh and buried her face in her hands.

She wished it had never happened. She wished Hibiki hadn’t heard her talking to Chris. She wished she hadn’t seen her crying.

Miku would have continued on her downward spiral of thoughts if not for the large hand placed on her shoulder. She flinched and whirled her head around to find Genjuro standing there, a box full of streamers and confetti half hidden behind his back. 

Genjuro chuckled. “Mind helping me with something?”

Miku smiled knowingly at the box of party supplies, but it quickly faded. 

“I... don’t know.” She looked back down at Hibiki. “I need to be here if she wakes up.”

“Oh, you have plenty of time,” Elfnein said helpfully. “I purposefully designed the formula to act over a longer period of time. It should be safer that way.” She paused. “I-I think. Organic transmutation isn’t my specialty.”

“Should be?” Miku stared at Elfnein, a worried look growing on her face. 

“Hibiki-kun will be fine, you just need to take your mind off things.” Genjuro crossed his arms and his eyes started to glitter with excitement. “And the best way to do that is with training!” He grinned and pumped a fist in the air.

  


* * *

  


Hibiki stared at Kanade and blinked several times. She still couldn’t believe it. Kanade, who she had watched fall before her at the Zwei Wing concert, was somehow standing in front of her.

“K-Kanade?” she finally managed to say.

“Well, who else did you think it was?” Kanade snorted and the corners of her eyes crinkled in amusement.

“How?” Hibiki stayed rooted in place, staring at her with wide eyes. “How are you here?”

“Dunno.” Kanade shrugged. “Think you still got some of my Gungnir bits in you.” She yawned. “I coulda hung around longer, but I got bored of watching you dorks. Thought I’d step in and give ya’ a little push.” She winked.

“ _You_ were the one that did this to me?” Hibiki asked breathlessly. “I— Why?” A memory of Miku came to mind, crying alone in their bunkbed, unable to do anything but watch. Hibiki’s expression fell and she looked down at her feet. “Miku was so worried about me...” 

“She’s always worried about you, kid. That’s what all of this was about.” Kanade smiled grimly and stepped towards her. “Even I could see that.” She sighed and patted Hibiki’s head. “I shoulda thought more about Tsubasa before I went running off not caring if I got hurt.” Kanade smiled sadly and looked down at her. “I wasn’t just gonna sit around and watch you make the same mistake.”

Kanade paused and snickered to herself. “Didn’t hurt that I got to pull off the greatest prank of my life doing it, too.”

“Oh,” Hibiki said quietly. Her shoulders sunk and she looked down at her hands.

If she hadn’t been turned into a dog would she ever have noticed? Would she just have kept going on missions while her sunshine worried, staying up late until she came home?

Hibiki’s shoulders slumped even further as she thought about all the times she had run off and left Miku behind. Had she cried then too? 

She started to tear up at the mere thought that she had been hurting her sunshine.

“Hey, you don’t have to be so serious! All you need to do is talk to her.” Kanade snorted and laughed to herself. “What’s that thing you say all the time? It’s fine, everything will turn out okay!” She gave a toothy grin and an overblown thumbs up. 

“Y-Yeah...” Hibiki smiled hesitantly. “It’s fine. It’s going to be okay. _Heiki hecchara_.”

Kanade chuckled and ruffled her hair.

“You know, she’s lucky to have you. Anyone would.” Kanade smirked and shot a wink at her.

“Oh!” Hibiki’s smile started to grow now that she realized she had a chance to talk to Kanade. “Are you going to come back and join the team now?” she asked excitedly.

Kanade’s smile lost some of its exuberance. She sighed and looked around the void, slowly shaking her head and rubbing the back of her neck. 

“Things ended for me at the concert, kid. I’m only here because of this.” She tapped the scar on Hibiki’s chest. 

Hibiki stared at her blankly before her features melted into a determined grin. “But we can still—“ 

Kanade flicked her on the forehead before she could continue. 

“You’re gonna say something about how you can fix this by holding hands or punching something, right?” Kanade chuckled to herself. “Well, you can’t punch your way out of this one, kiddo.”

“What happened to ‘never give up on life’?!” Hibiki asked, a little anger seeping into her voice.

“Not alive! Ha! Loophole!” Kanade grinned. Her expression softened as she looked back at Hibiki. “Seriously, though. It was fun to hang around for a while, but it’s time for me to go.”

The two of them stood in silence, Kanade’s words hanging in the air like lead.

“If...” Hibiki bit her lip. “If you’re really going to leave, then do you want me to give a message to Tsubasa or something?” She added a hopeful smile onto the end.

“Nah.” Kanade smiled sadly and looked off into the distance. “She’s moved on already. I don’t want to hurt her anymore.”

For a brief moment, Hibiki had to wonder if she would end up like Kanade. Not the whole ‘disembodied consciousness living in fragments of a Symphogear embedded someone else’s chest’ (which was kinda creepy now that she thought about it). But the thought that she might one day... die fighting and leave Miku alone.

A small smile grew on Kanade’s face. “Thanks for pushing her and the blushy one together, by the way. Tsubasa always was a bit of a useless lesbian.”

“Eh? She was?”

Kanade chuckled softly and she got a faraway look in her eye. “Yeah. She was.”

“Oh,” Hibiki said quietly. 

Not wanting to leave Kanade alone, she took a nervous step towards her. After a moment of hesitation, she put on a warm smile and wrapped her arms around the tall redhead.

“Hey, I told you not to worry about me.” Kanade chuckled and ruffled her hair. A playful glint grew in her eye and she smirked. “Thanks for the hug, though. If you weren’t already taken I might have to steal you away for myself.” She winked.

“Huh?”

Before Hibiki had any time to think about _that_ , the sound of Elfnein’s voice echoed through the void.

“Hello? Hibiki?” Elfnein asked, sounding like she was underwater. “Are you awake? I’ll be letting you out of the pod soon.”

“Well, don’t let me keep you here, kid.” Kanade grinned and lifted her hand up to touch the scar on Hibiki’s chest. “I’ll be taking the rest of my Gungnir with me too.” Kanade’s smile faded and she began to dissipate into thin streams of mist.

 _“Don’t forget to talk to your girlfriend, kiddo.”_ Kanade’s voice echoed in her ears as she disappeared.

Hibiki blinked and woke up. All the other wielders were clustered around her bed and collectively leaned forward as she sat up. 

Hibiki looked down at her human hands and arms and grinned. Her chest felt a bit lighter than she remembered, but other than that, everything felt back to normal. 

“Everyone! I missed you so much!” She threw her arms around the nearest person, who just happened to be Chris. “Hehe, Chris-chan! Why didn’t you tell me you had a crush on Tsubasa?” She giggled. “Or Maria.”

“OI! SHUT IT ALREADY, YOU IDIOT!” a very red-faced Chris yelled, trying to push her away.

“Y-Yukine...” Tsubasa said, her cheeks tinted a rosy pink.

Shirabe turned to Maria, who had frozen in place with a blush nearly as red as Chris’s, and whispered, “We told you so.”

“And quit rubbing your tail on me already!” Chris continued. Hibiki suddenly became aware of the familiar mass of fur behind her.

“Eh?! I still have a tail?!” She turned and caught a glimpse of it wagging happily behind her.

“The ears and tail should wear off after a while.” said Elfnein, still wearing her coffee hat.

“Ears too?” Hibiki patted her head trying to find them. “But if they wear off then why does Maria still have cat ears?”

“Hibiki...” Maria said, her expression horrified. “Did... Did you think my cat ears were real?”

“Eh?!” Hibiki stared at her with her mouth hanging open. “They aren’t?”

Chris snorted and Kirika giggled along with her. Ogawa smiled and Elfnein took a delighted sip from her coffee hat. Even the normally stoney-faced Tsubasa and Shirabe cracked smiles.

After the laughter had died down, Hibiki finally noticed that someone was missing. She glanced around to see if she had missed her in the crowd. The smile on her face faded when she didn’t find any trace of her.

“Where’s Miku?”

Tsubasa cleared her throat. “Kohinata was quite anxious about your recovery. You’ve been out for a while—“

“Approximately seven-point-eight hours,” Elfnein interjected helpfully. 

Tsubasa glanced over at Elfnein. “—and I believe she was having tea with my uncle to calm her nerves.”

Just then, Hibiki heard a familiar voice at the door. “Hibiki?”

“Miku?” Hibiki’s ears perked up and she sat up excitedly. 

Maria started to usher the other wielders out of the way at a pace that was just slow enough to make Hibiki’s heart beat a bit faster in anticipation. Not able to wait another second to see her sunshine, she slid off the bed and started to push her way through the group.

The crowd parted around her and Hibiki finally saw Miku standing in the doorway, looking like she had just finished running a marathon.

“Miku!” Hibiki bounded over and tackled her to the floor in a hug. “Miku! I missed you so much!” she cried, showering her sunshine with kisses.

“Ah! W-Wait, Hibiki!” Miku protested, barely managing to get an arm between them. “Stop licking me!”

“Eh?!” Hibiki paused and realized she had accidentally fallen back on her dog habits. Her ears pulled back against her head bashfully. “S-Sorry, Miku!”

“O-Oi!” Chris sputtered. “Do that stuff at home!”

“Yeah! Do that at home, dess!” Kirika exclaimed. She poked Chris’s arm accusatorially.

Chris swatted her hand away. “Oi! What are you doing that for?”

“Cause you were staring at Hibiki’s butt, dess!” Kirika poked her again.

“Eh? Chris-chan?” Hibiki looked back at her with a shocked expression. “I didn’t know you had a crush on me too!”

“Y-You idiot!” Chris sputtered, her face turning red. “I don’t have a crush on you!”

“Hehe... Aww, Chris-chan!” Hibiki darted over and tried to throw her arms around her.

“Oi! D-Don’t hug me!” Chris shouted, dodging around Elfnein and trying to hide behind her.

“Ah, but Chris-chan!” Hibiki whined. “I gotta make up for all the ones I missed!”

“Y-You can do that later!” Chris pointed at Miku, who was still sitting on the floor with a faint smile. “Now go bother your girlfriend! Not me!”

Hibiki giggled and moved back over to Miku for another hug.

Just as she was about to wrap her arms around Miku, her stomach let out a growl that nearly made the walls shake. The few people that weren’t already looking at her stopped what they were doing to stare.

It was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Elfnein took a slow slurp from her coffee hat.

“Uh, ehehe...” Hibiki laughed awkwardly and rubbed the back of her head.

“Oi, shrimpy!” Chris hissed and nudged Elfnein with her elbow. “Now’s the perfect time!”

“Ah!” Elfnein jumped and looked up at her. “W-What was I supposed to say again?” she whispered. 

Chris slapped a palm against her forehead.

“Jeez, why’d the old man have to unload all the work onto me?” Chris muttered to herself. She dug out a piece of paper from her pocket that she wordlessly handed to Elfnein. Elfnein looked down at it then back up at Chris.

“Are you sure I should say this?” she whispered. “It’s not entirely factually accurate.”

“Just read it already, shrimpy!” Chris hissed.

Elfnein held out the paper and cleared her throat. “U-Umm, the alchemical transformation has left Hibiki in a weakened state. You should proceed to the cafeteria to get some food, motion to door.” Elfnein jumped. “Ah! I wasn’t supposed to say that part!”

“Huh?” Hibiki perked up at the mention of food. “Is there rice?”

Elfnein looked up at Chris. “Is there rice?” she whispered.

“Yeah, sure!” Chris threw her hands up in the air. “There’s rice! Just get moving, already!”

“Shouldn’t Hibiki change first?” Elfnein asked innocently. “Unless you want to stare at her butt more.”

Chris’s face turned a furious shade of red and she raised a hand up to chop her.

  


* * *

  


Hibiki walked out of the room in a fresh set of clothes that Aoi had picked out for her. 

Everyone had left to give her some privacy and now the only one in sight was Miku.

Miku rose to from the bench she had been waiting on and greeted her with a faint smile. 

“The others went ahead,” she said softly.

As Hibiki moved closer, she noticed that something seemed... off about her girlfriend. There was a distance between them, a quiet tension like Miku expected her to deliver some bad news.

“Oh, okay...” Hibiki tried to push down her unease and offered her hand to Miku.

Miku paused and glanced up at her before taking it. Hibiki felt her heart sink at her hesitation but managed to keep a smile up as they started walking.

Miku must have noticed it though. Hibiki could never fake it around her.

As they walked, the last words of Kanade echoed through her mind. _“Talk to your girlfriend, kiddo.”_

She glanced over at Miku as they turned a corner and entered the hallway leading to the cafeteria.

“Hey, Miku,” Hibiki asked quietly.

Miku jumped slightly at the noise and glanced over at her. “Hmm?”

“Can we talk?”

A flash of fear came over Miku’s face. Before she could reply, the two of them walked into the cafeteria and a spray of confetti rained down on them.

“Surprise!” cheered a crowd of wielders and support staff led by Genjuro. Behind them was a large banner that read ‘Welcome back Hibiki!’. Kirika and Shirabe had obviously worked on it, judging from the tiny ‘death’ Kirika had written after the message.

One last party popper went off late and Elfnein nervously looked up. “S-Surprise.”

Hibiki smiled faintly at the festivities and quickly looked back at Miku.

“I...” Miku looked away. “I’m going to get some water.” She didn’t meet her eyes and hurried off to a table stacked with food and refreshments.

“Oh... okay.” Hibiki stared after her. 

_Does Miku not want to talk about it?_ A lump started to form in her throat. _But I hurt her... Why doesn’t she want to talk?_

She was about to go after her when Kirika and Shirabe blocked her path.

“I baked a cake.” Shirabe said, wearing one of the biggest smiles Hibiki had ever seen on her. She pointed to a table with a large dog-shaped cake on it. The dog looked like it was missing a leg, the only trace of the lost limb being a few crumbs.

“I helped!” Kirika proclaimed, frosting and crumbs smeared across her chin.

“Mhm.” Shirabe nodded proudly. “Kiri-chan helped make the frosting.”

Hibiki looked past them to Miku, who seemed to have struck up a conversation with Chris. It didn’t seem like they would get a chance to be alone for a while.

“Y-Yeah! I’d love some cake!” Hibiki put on a smile and let Shirabe whisk her away to try her dog cake.

Hibiki was able to lose herself in the festivities and cake for a while and ended up sitting at a table across from Genjuro and the support technicians.

Eventually, Miku came back to sit at her side, even reaching over to hold her hand as Fujitaka tried making a few dog jokes at her expense. 

That distance between them was still there. Miku never once looked directly at her. All Hibiki could do was swallow the growing lump in her throat and keep up her smile as she squeezed Miku’s hand a bit tighter.

The party started to die down after Genjuro slipped sleeping pills into the cans on Elfnein’s coffee hat without her noticing. A few minutes later, the short alchemist passed out in the middle of a sentence and fell asleep on a table.

Tsubasa, Maria, and Chris had retreated to a table in the corner, where they were hopefully talking about their feelings for each other or how many times they would hug Chris a day or whose place they would all live at or how the three of them would ever fit on Tsubasa’s motorcycle!

Hibiki beamed at them as she thought of all the possibilities. Chris flushed when she noticed her looking and shot her a glare that probably meant _“Shut up already, you big dummy!”_

Hibiki giggled and turned back to her table. She really did hope the three of them would work things out. They deserved to be happy.

Her smile faded slightly as she looked over at Miku. The rest of their table was barren save for Genjuro, so it seemed like now would be as good a time as any.

Hibiki gently squeezed her hand. “Hey, Miku?” she said quietly. “Can we talk now?”

That panicked look came over Miku’s face again and she stood up abruptly. She chewed on her lip for a moment before replying. “I... I’m going to take a walk.” 

“O-Okay...” Hibiki forced herself to keep smiling as Miku’s hand slipped out of hers.

“Miku...” She whimpered and stared after her girlfriend as she walked out of the cafeteria.

Across the table, Genjuro let out a long sigh and leaned back in his chair.

“Looks like the party is finally dying down, eh?” He reached under the table and produced a bottle of sake. He chuckled and held it out to Hibiki. “Want some?”

“Uncle!” Tsubasa was walking by and stopped in her tracks to shoot him a disapproving look. “Tachibana is still too young!”

“Not if you go by dog years.” Genjuro winked.

“That is still no reason to offer alcohol to minors! I’m confiscating this.” Tsubasa glowered and snatched the bottle from him. She turned on her heel and marched back to her table.

Genjuro waited until her back was turned before pulling out another bottle from under the table. He sighed and casually flicked the cork off with one finger.

Hibiki took the chance to stand up and go find Miku. She was just about to walk out into the hall when she heard a loud crack and looked back to find Tsubasa holding a small sword that she had just used to cut the neck off the confiscated bottle of sake. Tsubasa tucked the sword back into her jacket and offered some to Chris and Maria.

Hibiki smiled in spite of herself and gathered her nerves to step out into the dark hallway. 

She almost didn’t see Miku at first. Her sunshine was sitting on a bench just outside of the radius of light spilling out of the cafeteria.

“H-Hey, Miku?” Hibiki put on the brightest smile she could manage and tried to stop fiddling with the hem of her skirt. “Can we talk?”

Miku stayed silent for a moment before replying. 

“I— We don’t have to,” she said quietly, turning away from her. “You could just forget you saw me like that and everything could just go back to normal.”

“But Miku, I hurt you...” Hibiki took a step towards her girlfriend. She felt tears welling up in her eyes and tried to blink them away. ”I... I don’t want to forget about that.”

A faint burst of laugher came from the cafeteria doorway behind her and Miku stayed silent.

“Okay,” she finally said, her voice filled with sorrow. 

Miku glanced up at Hibiki for the first time and gave a slight nod to the bench next to her. “Sit?” A blush spread across her face as she realized what she’d said. “Ah! Not like that!”

“Ehehe... It’s fine!” Hibiki couldn’t help but smile. “Everyone already started teasing me.”

Miku smiled softly and Hibiki caught a glimpse of her sunshine peeking out from between the storm clouds. With a bit of hope growing in her heart, she took a seat next to her. 

Usually whenever they sat like this they would hold hands, and Hibiki saw Miku move to take her hand out of habit before she stopped and retracted it. The two of them sat there in silence until Hibiki finally mustered the courage to speak.

“Miku,” Hibiki said softly, gazing at her sunshine with wide eyes. “Do you always feel like that when I’m gone?”

Miku’s gaze dropped to the floor and Hibiki got her answer.

“Gods.” Hibiki sniffled and let out a shaky laugh. “I’m such an idiot, aren’t I? It took me being a dog to notice.”

“No, Hibiki,” Miku said tenderly. She reached out to catch her wrist. She still didn’t look over at her. “It’s not your fault...” 

Hibiki looked down at Miku’s hand and noticed it was trembling.

“I just don’t want you to get hurt,” Miku said, trying to conceal how much her voice was shaking. “You... You’re always running off and—and I never know when you’ll come back...” Her grip tightened around Hibiki’s wrist and her voice dropped to a whisper. “Or _if_ you’ll come back...”

“M-Miku...” Hibiki whimpered.

“But—“ Miku finally looked over at her and Hibiki noticed the tears streaming down her cheeks. “You’re saving people!” 

She let her hand slide off Hibiki’s wrist and stared down at the floor, her cheeks wet with tears.

“I can’t take you from that.” Miku’s voice was pained. Her hands slowly squeezed into fists. “I can’t be that selfish.”

Hibiki opened and closed her mouth but nothing came out. Unable to find the words, she shifted closer to Miku and gently wrapped her arms around her like she had done so many times for her. 

“I don’t care if you’re selfish,” Hibiki said softly. “You’re my sunshine! I’ll always love you, no matter what!” She tried to smile, but the expression quickly fell. Tears started to trickle down her cheeks and she made a halfhearted attempt to wipe them away. “Y-You’re my sunshine. And... I hurt you,” she said quietly, her voice breaking. “I-I made you cry.”

Miku hesitated and slowly returned the embrace, sliding her arms across her back. Hibiki immediately felt a gentle warmth start to well up inside, like she always did around her sunshine. 

“No one does that,” Hibiki insisted, squeezing Miku a bit tighter. “ _No one_ makes my sunshine cry. Not even me.”

“Hibiki,” Miku murmured, rubbing her back comfortingly. “You really don’t need to worry about me. I... I’m fine.”

“No, Miku!” Hibiki pulled back and stared at her intently. “I—“ She paused and swallowed the lump in her throat.

“I can’t fight if I know you’re hurting,” she said resolutely, drawing her lips back into a tight line.

“So—“ She gritted her teeth. She hated that it had come to this, but if it was for the sake of her sunshine, then... “I’ll quit!”

Miku stared at her in disbelief.

“What? No! You can’t quit!” Miku jumped up and whirled to face her. “Everyone needs you!”

“And I need you!” Hibiki insisted. She wrapped her arms around Miku’s waist and buried her face in her sweater. 

“I... I’m selfish too,” she admitted. “I love helping people, but—“ Her hands tightened into balls and pulled on the fabric of Miku’s sweater. “I love my sunshine even more.”

Hibiki let her hands slide down to Miku’s wrists and interlocked their fingers. She straightened up to stare into Miku’s emerald eyes, still wet with tears. 

“Kohinata Miku is my sunshine,” Hibiki declared stubbornly. “And if she’s not happy then I’m not happy.” Hibiki smiled warmly through her tears and leaned on Miku’s shoulder for support. “Please, Miku,” she whispered. “I just want you to be happy.”

“Hibiki, I—“ Miku’s voice faltered. She smiled faintly and brushed a stray lock of Hibiki’s bangs back into place. “I _love_ you. But... we never get any time together anymore.”

Hibiki squeezed her arms tighter around Miku.  
“I really am sorry,” she whispered.

“I know.” Miku gave a gentle squeeze back and trailed off. The two of them stood in silence for a moment, the only sound being a few muffled voices that drifted out of the cafeteria.

“I... don’t want you to quit,” Miku finally said. “But—“ She pulled away and her eyes began to burn with an unyielding fire. “There’s one thing you absolutely need to promise me.”

Hibiki nodded, despite feeling a bit nervous at the look in Miku’s eyes. “Mhm. Anything.”

“You can’t work another hour of overtime ever again!” Miku pouted and promptly turned her cheek. 

“Eh?! Miku?”

“I’m still mad about that.” Miku huffed and crossed her arms. “And what I said about not sleeping in the same bed is true.”

“Ah! Miku! Please don’t make me sleep alone!” Hibiki pleaded. Her ears and tail drooped and she leaned in to nuzzle Miku with her nose.

“H-Hey!” Miku stifled a laugh. “Your dog tricks won’t work anymore,” she said, trying to hide the smile spreading across her face.

“Oh?” A grin slowly spread across Hibiki’s face and her tail started to wag determinedly.

She pounced on Miku and the two of them went rolling to the ground. Hibiki landed on top, straddling her torso.

“Prepare to taste my newest technique, _Fury of a Thousand Licks!_ ” She paused. “Uh, ehehe... Actually, I guess I would be the one tasting it!”

“W-Wait, Hibiki!” Miku protested, trying to sit up. “You don’t have to lick me!”

“Are you sure?” An infectious grin lit up Hibiki’s face.

“Yes.” Miku tried to keep a stern look on her face, but failed, unable to contain her smile. She sat up and pulled Hibiki into a warm embrace. 

Hibiki giggled and nuzzled her. Miku gently ran her hand in circles on her back, bringing back memories of how she would absentmindedly run her hands theough her fur.

“Just... promise me you won’t run off in the middle of our dates anymore.” Miku’s arms tightened around her possessively. “Or in the middle of the night. You need to get your sleep.”

Hibiki nodded seriously. “Okay. I promise I won’t run off anymore.” She paused in thought. “Unless it’s _reaaally_ important.”

Miku’s gaze started to darken.

“Like if I see Chris-chan!” Hibiki exclaimed. “Then I’d have to run over and hug her!”

Miku broke out in a smile and softly shook her head. “I don’t know why Elfnein bothered to turn you back. Now you’re just an even bigger puppy.”

“But I’m your puppy!” Hibiki exclaimed, looking entirely too proud of herself.

Miku gave a short laugh and smile that brought with them all the warmth of a sunny summer day.

“No, you’re my sun.” Miku smiled and leaned in for a kiss.

Everything else seemed to blur away as Hibiki lost herself in the warmth of her sunshine. She could barely contain her smile as they pulled away, vaguely aware of a crowd of approaching footsteps.

“Oi! Do that at home!” Chris shouted.

A more than slightly drunk Tsubasa stumbled up next to her, supported by Maria. “I’ll do _you_ at home,” she mumbled.

Chris turned an even deeper red than Genjuro’s shirt and tried to muster a reply. She only managed a few indiscernible croaks.

Hibiki giggled and pressed her face against Miku’s neck, oblivious to the fact the whole crew was watching them. She still had one thing left to say.

“Miku!” Hibiki shouted as she threw her arms around her. Happy tears streaked down her cheeks. “I’m home!”

“Welcome back.” She could hear the smile in Miku’s voice.

  


* * *

  


Hibiki followed the sizzling smell of something delicious through their dorm and into their small kitchen, where Miku was standing in front of the stove stirring something in a frying pan.

She stifled a giggle and crept her way over until she was only a meter away from her.

“Miku!” In an instant, Hibiki had darted over and enveloped her in a hug.

“Hibiki!” Miku turned to her and tried to keep a smile from her face as she shook a spoon at her. “No surprise hugs in the kitchen! It’s dangerous!”

“Ehehe...” Hibiki giggled bashfully and nuzzled her. She peeked over her shoulder at the beef stroganoff Miku was cooking. “Are you making rice too?” she asked eagerly.

Miku stifled a laugh. “Yes Hibiki, I made a side of rice.

“Mmhmm...” Hibiki sighed dreamily as she slid off Miku’s shoulder. “Miku’s rice...”

Miku smiled softly and absentmindedly reached out to take her hand as she kept cooking. Hibiki purred and rested her head on her shoulder, content to watch her prepare their meal.

Miku and all their friends always said that beef stroganoff was easy to make, but it still seemed like rocket science to Hibiki. Or... normal science. She wasn’t much good at that either.

Hibiki would have been happy to stay there forever, pressed up against her sunshine, if not for the buzzing of her S.O.N.G. communicator on the table.

Hibiki reluctantly left the warmth of her sunshine to go answer it. On the screen was a map location and a short text description explaining headquarters had detected Alca-Noise signals in the vicinity.

Before, she would have grabbed it and rushed out the door, throwing a quick “Be back soon!” at Miku. But ever since she’d gotten back, she had been keeping her promise not to run off anymore. Mostly. She _may_ have snuck off once or twice for a _tiny_ mission when she was sure Miku wasn’t looking. Other than that, she had let the other wielders handle the lion’s share of any incidents.

Just on time, the communicator buzzed, this time with a message from Chris saying that she, Tsubasa, and Maria had the incident handled.

Hibiki glanced back at Miku, who had turned back to tend to the stroganoff. She wouldn’t have noticed it before, but Miku’s smile had dimmed.

“Ehehe, it’s fine!” she said, moving over to envelope her sunshine in another hug before she could worry too much. “Chris-chan and Tsubasa and Maria are already on it.”

“Oh.” Miku smiled softly. She pursed her lips and frowned slightly. “I thought they were going on a date tonight.”

“Ah!” Hibiki recoiled and waved her hands frantically. “You’re not supposed to call it that! Chris-chan got all angry and red in the face when I said it!” She paused and giggled to herself. “Actually, she was probably just blushing.”

Miku smiled and stirred the stroganoff. She reached down, and for a moment Hibiki thought she wanted to hold hands, but instead Miku’s hand hover over the pocket of her cardigan.

“Hibiki...” Miku started to blush as her fingers dipped into her pocket. “I have something for you...”

“Huh?” Hibiki cocked her head innocently. If she still had a tail, it would probably be wagging in anticipation. “What is it?”

Miku pulled out a small pendant shaped like a sunflower that glinted as it dangled from its chain. The very same one Hibiki had bought for her so long ago.

“Eh? Miku?” Hibiki stared at her in confusion. “I bought that for you!”

Miku glanced away and her cheeks took on a rosy hue. She opened her fist to let an identical sunflower pendant swing down to meet the first.

“I bought another one.” She smiled shyly and looked up to meet Hibiki’s eyes. “I thought we could have a matching set.” 

Hibiki stared at her with wide eyes before her open mouth formed a grin.

“Miku! I love it!” Hibiki threw her arms around her in a tight embrace.

Miku smiled and gently traced her fingers up and down her back.

“Can I put it on?” Hibiki asked breathlessly, bouncing with excitement.

“Of course.” Miku beamed.

Hibiki loosened her embrace just enough for Miku to fasten the sunflower around her neck. She did the same for her and stepped back to admire the sunflower necklace that hung closer to her heart than even her Gungnir. 

Her smile widened as she looked up at Miku and she closed the small distance between them with a hug.

“I’ll treasure it always,” Hibiki whispered with a smile. “Just like you.” Her words were accompanied by a gentle squeeze of her arms around Miku.

“H-Hibiki...” Miku flushed a deeper red. 

Hibiki giggled and gently rubbed her cheek against Miku’s. The two of them stayed there for a time, their bodies swaying to a rhythm only they could hear.

They could have stayed there forever, if not for the alarming smell of something starting to burn. Hibiki may not have been good at cooking, but she was pretty sure that wasn’t good.

“Ah! Miku!” Hibiki exclaimed. “The stroganoff!”

“O-Oh, right!”

  


Later that night, after the two of them had filled themselves with slightly burnt beef stroganoff (and in one case, enough rice to feed a small town), the two of them went about their nightly routine.

Hibiki finished brushing her teeth first and walked out into the main room of their dorm. The dim lamps and lights from outside lit the dorm in soft shades of orange and purple.

Hibiki smiled as she looked out at the skyline through the large window.

It might have been her imagination, but for a moment she saw Kanade standing in her reflection, with a thumbs up and a cheesy grin that seemed to say _“See kid? Everything turned out okay!”_

A beam of light shifted across the glass and the illusion disappeared. Somehow, Hibiki knew it would be the last time she saw her.

“Hibiki?” Miku asked, walking up behind her in her pajamas. “Is something wrong?”

“Ah!” Hibiki jumped slightly at her arrival. She smiled and reached out to hold her hand. “Ehehe, it’s nothing. I’ll tell you later.” 

Miku smiled at her. “Okay. Tomorrow, then.” Her gaze started to darken. “Speaking of tomorrow, you still haven’t started your make up homework.”

Hibiki gulped and tried not to look at the large stack of unfinished homework sitting on the table.

The two of them made their way over to their bunkbed, but Hibiki paused at the ladder, an idea forming in her mind.

“Hey, Miku,” Hibiki turned to her, a smile slowly spreading across her face. “Remember when you had to carry me up to the bed?”

“Yes?” Miku looked at her with a confused expression. “Wait, do you want me to— Ah! H-Hibiki!”

Hibiki giggled. She had swept Miku off her feet was carrying her up the steps to their bunk bed, bridal style.

Miku tried to pout but couldn’t contain her joy and beamed at her instead. Hibiki set her down and flopped down into bed next to her, her smile half buried in her pillow.

Miku reached over and gently ran a hand through a fluffy lock of Hibiki’s hair. “My sun,” she whispered.

Hibiki giggled and snuggled closer to her, already half asleep. “My sunshine,” she mumbled.

Miku smiled to herself and moved closer to wrap her arms around her.

The two of them were just about to succumb to sleep when Miku’s phone buzzed. Before Miku could even think about getting it, Hibiki had already sat up and picked it up from the bedside. 

“Huh?” Hibiki stared down at Miku’s phone with a confused expression before looking up at her. “Miku, what’s this?” 

Hibiki turned the phone screen towards her and Miku saw a ‘Your order has shipped!’ email from an online pet supply retailer.

“Hmm?” Miku slowly sat up and frowned as she thought. “I think I ordered some dog toys before I knew it was you.” 

_And a tracker implant,_ she added mentally. She glanced over at Hibiki and tried to hide her smile. _I might still use that one..._

Hibiki continued staring down at the phone, looking uncharacteristically thoughtful. 

She looked up at Miku and her eyes started to glitter. A grin slowly spread across her face and she almost forgot to breathe in her excitement.

“Miku!” Hibiki cried, pouncing on her with a hug. She stared up at her with pleading (former) puppy dog eyes. “Let’s get a puppy!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, it’s finally finished! 
> 
> I think I’ve mentioned this before, but this fic was based on updating a older wip I had never posted. The original ending really didn’t fit what this fic had become, so I think I ended up rewriting this chapter around 6 times or so? I’m pleased with the result, so I hope it paid off.
> 
> The Kanade twist came about when I was looking for a reason for Hibiki to get turned into a dog and was playing around with Carol or one of the antagonists doing it before their season. 
> 
> Noticed a lot of the antagonists have white in their color schemes and wanted to throw in some mystery as to who did it, but never really decided on which one. Eventually I rewatched episode 1 and saw Kanade was wearing that white poncho and just thought it was perfect! Everyone who had watched Symphogear must have seen her wearing it. Plus, she fit nicely into the HibiMiku arc and could act as a (slightly flirty) ghost guide for Hibiki. 
> 
> Well, I hope all you guys, gals and enby pals enjoyed this (mostly) fluffy dog fic, and I would love to hear what you thought!


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